Reality

’90 Day Fiance’ Star Big Ed Responds to Backlash After Asking Rose to Shave Her Legs

90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days star Ed ‘Big Ed’ Brown is defending his request that Rosemarie […]

90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days star Ed “Big Ed” Brown is defending his request that Rosemarie “Rose” Vega shave her legs during Sunday’s episode of the TLC show. After Brown’s behavior on a trip to the Philippines to meet his girlfriend for the first time was criticized as misogynistic and controlling, the reality personality opened up about his intentions in asking to Us Weekly.

“I woke up last Sunday morning and it wasn’t a good morning because all of the haters came out,” Brown, 54, told the magazine. “I had asked Rose if she would shave her legs, and people were really upset about that. And I was having a conversation with my daughter Tiffany, and she’s like, ‘Dad, look, that’s completely normal. I live in San Diego. Everybody goes to the beach, people laser their legs.’ … So it wasn’t something that I was really used to.”

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This isn’t the first time Big Ed has been criticized for his treatment of Rose, facing similar feedback after he demanded Rose, 23, take an STD test, but declined to take one in the Philippines himself. While the request ultimately caused a rift in their relationship, Brown said he took an STD test “immediately” after returning to the U.S., and it came back “clean.” Since then, the reality personality said he has reconciled with his daughter and said he leans on her for advice.

“She wasn’t judging me. She was like, ‘Dad, hindsight’s 2020. If you would have gotten the test before you left the U.S., when you got there, you would have asked Rose, ‘Hey, I want you to take this STD test,’ because I did, then I showed her what I did,” he explained. “That would have been, I think, more of the appropriate thing to do. I obviously didn’t handle that very well.”

He continued that Rose and he are still “very happy” and “definitely in love.” Brown said, “My daughter gave me the best advice possible, but because I wasn’t talking to her at the time, I wasn’t able to get that feedback from her. So I wish I would have handled that a lot differently. But we made up, so it’s all good.”