90 Day Fiancé star ‘Big’ Ed Brown breaks down in tears as he opens up about his friend’s suicide and says ‘serious’ mental health issues are being ‘ignored’

Reality TV star Big Ed broke down in tears as he opened up about losing his best friend of 27 years to suicide, and the effect it has had on him and his mental health.

During an exclusive sit-down interview with DailyMail.com, the 90 Day Fiancé star – whose real name is Ed Brown and recently called off his wedding to Liz Woods – became emotional as he admitted he “didn’t know how to save his marriage ‘. ‘buddy’, who unfortunately committed suicide more than ten years ago.

When asked how he takes care of his own mental health while in the public eye, Ed, 59, replied: “We’re always on our guard, you have to do that in life too. You know, we hide from our family in most ways, but…” as his voice broke and he fought back tears.

“I’m sorry, mental illness is something that is very serious in our country and it reminded me of my best friend of 27 years, Scott, who took his own life, and this man had everything. This man was a banker, he had a house with a swimming pool, a beautiful wife, a 15-year-old daughter, and when you look at him you think, “This man has everything.”

The reality TV star said he couldn’t save his ‘buddy’ Scott, who sadly passed away over a decade ago

Ed apologized again and continued: ‘Mental health, I think in general, is one of our biggest ignored issues and not just for men, but for women too. And in regards to social bullying, I know several people on social media who commit suicide because they read the vitriol and it’s just sad.

‘But I think the less we lose connection with ourselves, the more problems we’ll have. So if you have a friend who’s going through a hard time… and I couldn’t save my buddy, I didn’t know how.

‘And what really sucked is that he thought no one loved him and at his funeral there were over 350 people in the room and you just looked around and said, ‘Wow, what did I miss? I didn’t see you?” “‘

To protect his own mental health, Ed chooses not to read comments on his Instagram posts – and has decided not to disable them after his media manager told him his likes would ‘decline’.

‘I had a conversation with Pauly Shore, he’s a comedian who took me aside and said, ‘Look, don’t worry about the likes, don’t worry about anything, just go have fun, if you’re on social media, do it for fun,” he recalls.

“I choose not to read my comments. I have family members who stick up for me, which is kind of funny, but I choose not to read them.”

Referring to anyone in the public eye, Ed added: “We’re all dealing with it in some way, shape or form, but I think it’s sad that people have to use that as a tool to spread hate.” spout so they can feel better about themselves. .

“I don’t think it’s good for anyone, including the person spewing the vitriol,” Ed added.

Ed was first introduced to viewers in 2020 when he appeared on Season 4 of 90 Day Fiancé

The 59-year-old reality TV star has called off his wedding to fiancée Liz Woods and fans saw it happen on screen

Ed has a condition called Klippel-Feil syndrome, which means he has a ‘larger than normal chest cavity’

However, Ed revealed it’s not all negative when it comes to being one of the most recognizable faces on reality TV, saying: ‘Beautiful things are happening too.’

“When I first came out, I had a condition called Klippel-Feil, which means that instead of having seven cervical vertebrae, I have three that are the size of two, so I have kind of limited movement,” the reality star said.

“I have a bigger chest cavity than normal, or whatever, so I just look different and I started getting letters from people all over the world: ‘Hey, where do you get your self-confidence? You rub mayonnaise in your hair. I have the same condition as you and I can’t get out of bed.”

“So I can respond to them and say, ‘Look, don’t let your condition define who you are.’ And so a lot of great things have happened to me because of the show.

“I just hope that somehow, even through my bad behavior, I’ve taught someone that you shouldn’t act like that or treat women in general.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.