No one knows better than the cast of 90 Day Fiancé that relationships aren’t easy. Ed “Big Ed” Brown opened up about his search for love on the hit TLC series’ spinoff 90 Day: The Single Life.
“I was on six different dating websites. I was catfished over 15 times. I had horrible, horrible luck,” the reality star, 55, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, January 20, while discussing the new series. He then teased of his current relationship, “We’ll see what happens. It’s still early. It’s kind of another roller coaster of a journey, somewhat like the Philippines.”
Ed starred on season 4 of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days alongside Rosemarie “Rose” Vega. He traveled to the Philippines to meet her in person after they connected online. The pair split during a May 2020 episode.
Eight months after his rocky relationship with Rose, 25, Ed decided to put himself out there again. “The show really kind of just follows me through my journey of what it’s like getting back into the dating life,” he explained to Us. “I hired a dating coach, which I got a lot of insight in who I am because one thing I revealed to her was who I wanted in a partner — you know, I wanted this, I wanted this and they don’t have to love me. And she’s like, ‘Well, wait a minute. Why not? Like, why don’t you think you deserve love?’ So, for me, it was therapeutic. The show was really therapeutic. And I found somebody. … She’s a wonderful girl.”
The TV personality grew emotional when he recalled his declaration that he did not need to be romantically involved with someone who loved him, noting that the dating coach “caught me off guard” when she questioned him about it.
“I think a lot of people in this world don’t think they’re good enough. And that’s sad. So you have to — I’m learning to believe in myself. I’m learning to love me for who I am and accept me for who I am. And that way somebody can love me, but you can’t — if you don’t love yourself, no one else will. And that’s the big thing,” he said. “And then I got a lot of pointers on, like, how you ask a girl out. For 28 years, I’m like, ‘Hey, you want to grab lunch? Hey, you want to hang out?’ No, she’s like, ‘No, no, no, no. … I want to take you out on a date, and repeat after me: I want to take you out on a date,’ and I did it.”
Ed told Us in April 2020 that he had “no” regrets about how his relationship with Rose played out. However, he conceded that the challenges were overwhelming. “First of all, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” he noted at the time. “I was in fear of my life. There was one night where I didn’t think I was gonna make it, and that’s the honest to God truth.”
90 Day: The Single Life and The Single Life Pillow Talk premiere on Discovery+ Sunday, February 21.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
