For Ed “Big Ed” Brown, it all goes down in the DMs.
“I get wedding proposals almost every other day. They’re [from people] over 85 years old and I don’t even know where their nursing home is, so I don’t respond to those,” Ed, 59, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, May 14. “The last crazy DM I just got, they’re actually neighbors [who] invited me to go on a couple’s trip to Florida, all expenses paid. I’m like, well, ‘I’m single, don’t worry.’ We’re all going to have a lot of fun. I’m like, ‘Why don’t we just grab a drink locally and see what happens?’ I get a lot of those requests.”
Ed has previously been engaged to Rose Vega and Liz Woods, respectively, and both relationships were chronicled on seasons of 90 Day Fiancé. (He also shares adult daughter Tiffany with ex-wife Sandra Heckman.) Since Ed and Liz recently split for good, he’s gotten a steady stream of DM requests.
“People want to take me out to dinner or to lunch and what I don’t like about that is that they don’t want to have lunch with me. They want to have lunch with ‘Big Ed,’ and that comes with the territory,” Ed told Us. “But on a lighter note, I am able to use my public figure [status to work with] charities [like] the Remembering Nicholas Foundation.”
The TLC personality also gets an impressive number of Cameo requests from fans.
“I’m actually making more money this year than I did last year,” Ed noted. “So, people still love me. They like the chicken hat and my scooter and, hey, it pays my bills.”
In addition to helping organize charity events and working to support his lifestyle, Ed is still looking for love.
“I’ve been dating. It’s still weird because even the word ‘date,’ it has a negative connotation because when you date someone, you’re basically pretending to be somebody else,” Ed added. “So what I’m focusing on [is] developing friendships. I have a handful of people [who] I’ve met through the industry that we go to lunch together, we go to Top Golf, we go to happy hours together. And so, I’m patiently waiting for the right person to come along.”
Ed is hoping to find a “natural” and “organic” romance, ruling out meeting a partner on a dating app or connecting with a 90 Day fan.
“Would I date a fan? I have [and] I don’t recommend it,” he explained. “Here’s why: They like Big Ed, the character that I created, and once they get to know the real Ed … it’s not the same. So, dating fans, in general, [isn’t] a good idea.”
Ed, however, does know what he wants in his next serious relationship.
“I’m looking for somebody that respects me, that I can respect somebody that’s secure,” Ed told Us. “Being a public figure, it’s really difficult and [is] for a lot of relationships. So I’m looking for somebody that doesn’t want to be in the spotlight, doesn’t want to be on TV and … they have to love who they are and be happy. I can’t make them happy and they can’t make me happy. We have to do that for ourselves.”
With reporting by Yana Grebenyuk
