Big Ed spoke with ET about the hate he receives from '90 Day Fiancé' fans and gave his opinion on his fellow cast members.
Following his big breakup with Liz, 90 Day Fiancé star Big Ed is reflecting on his fame and how much longer he wants to be on camera. ET's Rachel Smith sat down with one of the franchise's most controversial stars and he talked about his future on-screen.
Viewers saw Ed and Liz's brutal split play out on this season of 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? after years of ups and downs. In his candid conversation with ET, Ed reflected on how being on camera affected their relationship and said that despite everything, he was still open to trying to find love in the public eye.
"I want to find real love and my therapist even told me early on, like, look, it's hard enough to be in a relationship let alone in a relationship on TV, so I have mixed feelings about that now because I really thought a lot of the problems Liz and I had were because of the cameras, but a lot of the great stuff and a lot of the not so great stuff, you know, actually happened off the camera, so I don't think necessarily being on TV is a bad thing," he says. "If I'm given the opportunity, you know."
Ed said he did currently have his eye on a woman in Arkansas where he's now living, though she's very much a private person.
"The first thing I would do most definitely number one were respect my future partner's privacy and if they don't want to be on TV, I'll have to walk away unless it's a different, you know, HGTV, a remodeling show or something fun," he says.
As for the often negative impression he leaves on viewers, he admits he understands it, but notes that that's not his entire personality.
"So the the thing I learned in therapy was this, in fact day one in therapy they were like, there are two people sitting in front of me -- there is Big Ed the character that you created and people love, they love this guy. They send him marriage proposals, usually over 85, they drop off alcohol at my house, it's crazy. But then there are people that say the most horrible, horrible things that you could ever imagine and then there's the Ed the human," he shares. "The people that love me, you know, love this guy and for me, I had to separate that. I agree with the way, you know, I've done some silly things on camera."
Ed was also very vocal about bullying and its negative effects and said he doesn't read the comments about himself.
"Every other week I hear about reality stars and young adults on social media, that they're bullied to the point that they commit suicide," he says. "And so there's a lot of that going on and it really has to stop."
Still, he did admit he likes to be recognized. He shared that while in New York City, there were 100 people lined up to take pictures with him when he was out on the street.
"You know, when I get lonely back home, I just go to a Walmart usually," he also shares. "They love me."
Ed also gave his opinion on his fellow 90 Day Fiancé cast members this season, and said he's bonded with Ashley and Rob.
"She's very spiritual, she offered to do a reading for me and she was just a real sweetheart and very supportive," he says of Ashley, who is a self-proclaimed witch. "Her partner, like Big Ed, he has some things he needs to work on and then the really cute guy with the beautiful eyes and the ponytail, what's his name? You know, Rob and I really bonded, he's such a nice guy, so I don't have a favorite couple unfortunately, but I have favorite people that are on my season."
As for his beef with fellow cast member Loren, who has publicly said that she "loathed" him, he said they actually met and there's no hard feelings.
"Loren had said some things about me and I had responded back and two wrongs don’t make a right, but the only point I wanted to make to Loren -- by the way, I got to meet her for the first time and she's a lovely amazing mom and her husband, Alexei, is very, very nice as well. I have a lot of respect for him, and even Loren's mom I have a lot of respect for, but like, Loren, myself, we're on this side, like we're in the public eye and we know what it feels like when people throw us shade and hate and to hear that from her was disappointing but, you know, I shouldn't have responded in the way I did."
90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? airs Sundays on TLC.
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