90 Day Fiancé star Big Ed is opening up about his shocking breakup from Liz and his thoughts on her moving on with another man. ET's Rachel Smith sat down with the 59-year-old reality star to talk about the stunning turn of events on this season of 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?, when he called off his wedding to Liz without even telling her.
90 Day Fiancé viewers have seen Ed and Liz struggle with their relationship over the past three years, and the two had broken up 15 times already. But on this season, he ended it for good and called off their wedding over a seemingly benign argument over taco pasta.Liz was heartbroken and wanted him back even though she had to find out their wedding was called off by their officiant. But since then, she has since moved on with another relationship, which she's shown on social media. Ed complimented 30-year-old Liz's new man while talking with ET and revealed that they've actually met.
"He's a hunk," Ed says of Liz's new boyfriend. "Guy's a pretty good-looking guy, I'm very happy I met them. I have met the guy, you know, he's really nice. I think they're within one or two years apart [in age]."
Still, he does have some reservations about their new relationship.
"I mean I'm happy for her ... just my concern is we all have things that we need to work on and deal with and if we don't they're gonna rear their ugly head and that's my fear is that it's not gonna ... it won't last because Liz will not have dealt with the same things that I have to deal with," he says.
"For the last three years and that was every time we broke up it was something like that where .... Liz has had a really hard life, you know, my mistake was that I thought I could fix her, I could change her, and I also realize you can't," he continues. "And I tried to shower her with money and tried to make her feel secure, just like wanted to sort of wrap her in a blanket and let her know that she's loved and she's safe but it never ... you know, when you do that, when you take somebody out of their routine, they can't function. My buddy, Rich, told me that, he's like, you can't change who she is, you have to love who that person is."
As for how his relationship with Liz ended, while it did seem abrupt to viewers, Ed shared that three months ahead of the wedding he realized that their issues were not getting any better and he couldn't marry her. When it comes to blindsiding her by calling off the wedding, Ed said that he did tell her it was over when they fought over taco pasta in front of his family, but she didn't get the message.
"The morning after Pastagate I was with my sister and nephew and they're like, 'No, we were there and you told Liz that the wedding was off,' but obviously she didn't hear me or she didn't believe me because when I went and saw my friend, the officiant, a couple weeks later in San Diego, he told me he had texted Liz, 'Hey, I'm really sorry that it didn't work out,' and he said that she was inconsolable," he recalls. "Regardless, I'm not happy with how she found out. I was not at all happy."
He also explained how the taco pasta fight was just an example of the two's deep-seated issues.
"A lot of the issues that Liz and I had, it comes down to communication," he shares. "Liz would get into these tirades and they weren't pleasant in front of the public, in front of an Uber driver and I hid that from my family. And so for the first time, my family got to see how Liz acts when she's frustrated and I remember looking over at my sister and she gave me this look like, don't do it, you're making a mistake. And I already knew."
He insisted though that he was always genuine about wanting to marry Liz.
"Let me tell you something, I gave up everything for Liz," he stresses. "I turned my back on my daughter, my mom, any friend of mine in San Diego that had a question about Liz, they were out of my life. I was hoping by moving to Arkansas, which was actually Liz's idea, that all of our issues would go away. I was the one that found the house, made all the preparations, I financed everything. It was that important for us to have a fresh start, so I have no regrets falling in love with Liz and I have no regrets calling off the wedding. I'm not happy with how she found out at all."
Ed said he has since moved on from Liz and holds no ill-will towards her whatsoever.
"I'll always love Liz," he says. "I'll always love her daughter. I'm definitely not in love with Liz, but she'll always have a place in my heart. She’s a part of my history and I have no regrets."
He said the two are still in touch.
"Occasionally we will text very lightly but, you know, I don't want to be a distraction to her," he notes. "I want her to have every opportunity to be happy. She knows that I love her. I'll never, ever say anything bad about her. I have nothing to say bad about her at all and I really want her to be happy and I want to be happy. I want to find my happiness."
90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? airs Sundays on TLC.
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