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 'buddy,' who sadly took his own life over 10 years ago.

When asked about how he looks after his own mental health with being in the public eye, Ed, 59, replied: 'We always have our guard up, you kind of have to, even in life. You know, we hide ourselves from our family in most ways but...,' as his voice broke and he fought back tears.

'I'm sorry, mental illness is something that's very serious in our country and it made me think of my best friend of 27 years, Scott, who took his life, 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 opened up about losing his best friend of 27 years to suicide

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's being ignored and not just for men, but for women too. And in regard to social bullying, I know several social media people that take their life because they read the vitriol and it's just sad.

'But I think the less we become disconnected with ourselves, the more trouble we're gonna be in. So, if you have a friend that's struggling... and I couldn't save my buddy, I didn't know how.

'And what really sucked is that he didn't think anybody loved him and at his funeral there were over 350 people standing in the room and you just look around and go, "Wow, what did I miss? What did I not 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 disable them after his media manager told him his likes would 'go down.'

'I had a conversation with Pauly Shore, he's a comedian that pulled 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 recalled.

'I choose not to read any of my comments. I have family members that try to stick up for 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 some way, shape, or form, but I think it's sad that people have to use that as a vehicle to spew hate to make themselves feel better about themselves.

'I don't think it's good for anyone, including the person that is spewing the vitriol,' Ed added.

Ed was first introduced to viewers in 2020 when he appeared in season 4 of 90 Day fiancé

The 59-year-old reality TV star called off his wedding to fiancé Liz Woods and fans have seen it play out onscreen

Ed has a condition called Klippel-Feil syndrome which means he has a 'bigger 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 television and said 'there are wonderful things that happen' too.

'When I first came out, I have a condition called Klippel-Feil, which is, 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 bigger than normal chest cavity or whatever, so I just look different and I started to get letters from people all over the world going, "Hey, where do you get your confidence? You rub mayonnaise in your hair. I have the same condition that you have and I can't get out of bed."

'So I'm able to respond to them and go, "Look, don't let your condition define who you are." And so there's been a lot of really great things that have happened to me because of the show.

'I'm just hoping that in some way that even through my bad behavior, I've taught somebody that's not how you should act or treat women, in general.'

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