Reality TV star Big Ed broke down in tears while speaking about his best friend of 27 years’ suicide and the effects it had on him and his mental health.
During an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, the 90 Day Fiancé star – whose real name is Ed Brown and recently called off his marriage to Liz Woods – got emotional as he admitted he “didn’t know how to save” his “my friend”, who unfortunately committed suicide more than 10 years ago.
When asked how he takes care of his own mental health while being in the public eye, Ed, 59, replied: “We’re always on guard, you kind of have to do it, even in the life. You know, we hide from our family in most ways, but…” as his voice cracked and he held back tears.
“I’m sorry, mental illness is a very serious thing in our country and it made me think of my best friend of 27 years, Scott, who committed suicide, and this guy had everything. This guy was a banker , he had a house with a swimming pool, a beautiful wife, a 15-year-old daughter, and you look at him and you’re like, “This guy has everything.”
Reality TV star Big Ed broke down in tears as he spoke about the suicide of his best friend of 27 years.
The reality TV star said he couldn’t save his “buddy” Scott, who sadly passed away more than 10 years ago.
Apologizing again, Ed continued: “Mental health, in general, I think is one of our biggest issues that is ignored and not just for men, but for women as well. And as for social bullying, I know several people on social media who are committing suicide because they read the vitriol and it’s just sad.
“But I think the less disconnected we are from ourselves, the more trouble we’ll get in. So if you have a friend in trouble…and I couldn’t save my buddy, I didn’t know how.
“And what really sucked was he thought no one loved him and at his funeral there were over 350 people standing in the room and you look around and you go, ‘Wow , what did I miss? What didn’t I see? “‘
In order to protect his own mental health, Ed chooses not to read comments on his Instagram posts – and made the decision not to turn them off after his media manager told him his likes would “go down”.
“I had a conversation with Pauly Shore, he’s a comedian who took me aside and said, ‘Listen, don’t worry about likes, don’t worry about anything, just go ‘fun, if you’re on social media, do it for fun,’ he recalls.
“I chose not to read any of my comments. I have family members who try to defend me, which is kind of funny, but I choose not to read them.
Referring to everyone in the public eye, Ed added: “We all deal with it in one way or another, but I think it’s sad that people have to use this as a vehicle to spit hatred in order to feel better about themselves. .
“I don’t think it’s good for anyone, including the person spewing 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 star called off his wedding to fiancée Liz Woods and fans watched it unfold on screen.
Ed suffers from 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 reality TV’s most recognizable faces and said “there are wonderful things happening too”.
“When I first came out, I suffered from 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 kind of have limited movement,” the reality star said.
“I have a larger chest cavity than normal or whatever, so I just look different and I started getting letters from people all over the world saying, ‘Hey, where do you get your confidence from? ? You put mayonnaise in your hair. I have the same condition as you and I can’t get out of bed.
“So I’m able to respond to them and say, ‘Look, don’t let your condition define who you are. And so there’s been a lot of really cool things that have happened to me because of the show.
“I just hope that somehow, even through my bad behavior, I have taught someone that this is not the way to act or treat women in general .”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.