Christina Haack’s New Post With Kylie King Has Fans Asking Where James Bender Is

Where is James Bender?! That’s the question HGTV fans have been asking for months, and the inquiries resurfaced after Christina Haack posted a new Instagram photo with Kylie King.

Haack has been working with King much more these days, while she no longer appears to be teaming up with Bender, her former design partner. He didn’t appear in any episodes of The Flip Off, and was only briefly featured in recent episodes of Christina on the Coast, which were filmed months ago.

Aside from his absence, fans have noticed that Haack is pushing her partnership with Wing more than ever. “Still trying to find the perfect design duo for your project? Consider this your sign to fill out our contact form,” the duo captioned their latest photo. The comments section was filled with messages about Bender.

“I miss James, where is he ?” one person wrote. Someone else said, “Like Christina and Kylie but really enjoyed James and his style and yours together. You made a great duo,” and another person wrote, “What happened to James?”

The conversation also continued over on Reddit when a user admitted, “Is it me or does anyone think Christina designed better before she joined forces with Kylie? Love James’s and her designs. Loved her designs before but not so much now!”

Bender still hasn’t posted on his own Instagram since August 2024 when he promoted the finale of the first half of Christina on the Coast Season 5. Both he and Haack have not addressed the reason for their apparent falling out. Fans have speculated that Bender has maintained a relationship with Haack’s estranged husband, Josh Hall, following their summer 2024 split, but that has not been confirmed.

“I don’t think James is back. I think he’s being phased out,” one person theorized earlier this month. “He was really not in the episode. Something is up.”

Season 5 of Christina on the Coast wrapped on March 13, and Haack recently revealed that she is not currently filming any projects.