Not many 90 Day Fiancé viewers can forget the disastrous relationship that took place between "Big Ed" Brown and Rosemarie Vega on 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days. Many viewers were infuriated to see the way the 54-year-old American talked to his 23-year-old Filipina partner. Since Rose broke up with her older American boyfriend, she has gone on to have a thriving career as an influencer, while Big Ed has continued within the franchise. The 55-year-old recently reflected on his reality show relationship with Rose in an exclusive interview.
Viewers found many reasons why Big Ed and Rose were not a perfect match. Though many were turned off by their age gap and lack of chemistry, others were upset with the way Big Ed spoke to his younger partner. The American insulted Rose's body hair and bad breath due to an ulcer. He also demanded she received STD testing, although he didn't want to be tested. Fans rejoiced when Rose called things quits, but she has since publicly forgiven her ex-boyfriend for their disastrous relationship. With their romance in the past, Big Ed opened up about his time with Rose.
“I say a lot of dumb things. I said a lot of dumb things to Rose that I probably shouldn't have," Big Ed said in a Screen Rant exclusive interview. "I put mayonnaise in my hair, I showered with my father-in-law. All of those were real. That wasn’t planned, it was very impromptu. I’ve kind of been that way all my life. I’ve always been very spontaneous." He confirmed that his portrayal on the show was "almost too accurate." "I’m not that great with women to be honest although I’m somewhat charismatic. There are ways that I could have worded things differently," he said. However, he stands by what he said. "Everything that came out of my mother were my words and my actions," he stated.
Though Big Ed admitted that he could have spoken differently, he is happy about the relationship in retrospect. "I don't think I could have found a more perfect opposite anywhere in the world and I think that had a lot to do with the success of the show," he said. "We were the last two that knew we were wrong for each other. We thought that this was fantasy and love and the whole world’s like 'oh my god she’s so wrong for you and he’s so wrong for you in many more ways.'" He added that he was grateful for his relationship with Rose despite the way it ended.
While she was living in abject poverty while the show was filming, Rose has risen to be a highly successful influencer with a freshly renovated home of her own. Big Ed shared that he was proud of the single mother. “I give Rose a lot of credit and I was actually able to FaceTime with her a couple of months back and really just tell her that I’m sorry for the way that I acted and I want the best for her in life," he said. "I think that we were a perfect storm and I give Rose a lot of credit for just being who she was. Her facial expression the way that she reacted and acted that was all real.”
Fortunately, Rose has forgiven Big Ed for the way he has spoken to her and moved on to live a thriving life. Meanwhile, Big Ed has continued his televised search for love. He currently stars in the Discovery+ spin-off show 90 Days: The Single Life. Big Ed has confirmed that Rose was too young for him, though the 55-year-old 90 Day Fiancé star still has his eyes set on finding a woman who is several decades younger.
90 Day Fiancé airs Sundays at 8pm ET on TLC.