'90 Day Fiancé' 's Big Ed Was Catfished 'Over 15 Times' While Looking for Love on 'The Single Life'

90 Day FiancéstarEd “Big Ed” Brownis once again on the search for love — and it’s come with new hurdles.Big Ed, 55, stars in the newly launcheddiscovery+spinoff90 Day:The Single Life, in which six alums from the franchise take another shot at finding “the one.” (Watch a clip from Sunday’s premiere above.)“I saw this as an opportunity for me to work on myself, andThe Single Lifeis not like a dating show. It’s not likeThe Bachelor,” he tells PEOPLE. “It’s really about them just following me around on my journey to get back into the dating scene.““The first thing I did was I hired an exercise coach and a dating coach,” he continues. “And I signed up on like, six different dating websites and just, you know, put myself out there.“Big Ed.TLCAlong the way, his journey did take few a wrong turns — and he says he “was catfished about 15 times.““I was beginning to get really discouraged, to be quite honest,” he admits. “Because once you’re in the public eye, people know who you are.“Big Ed says the individuals that were attempting to catfish him were using pictures that “were like, 15 to 20 years younger — they weren’t current.““And that happened over 15 times,” he says. “I was like, ‘Oh, that’s it.'“Big Ed.Discovery+Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.The interior designer says he persevered because “I’m 55 years old, and I’m worried about dying alone.““I would want to meet my life partner,” he says. “And whether that leads to marriage or not, I want to be with one person, the one, you know, for the rest of my life.“So what kind of woman is he looking for? “Someone that’s very caring,” he says. “That’s not selfish. That’s not greedy. That’s not materialistic. And that loves me for who I am.““I want to be with somebody that doesn’t want to change me, and I want to be with somebody that I don’t want to change them,” he says. “And there are always, always going to be tweaks that they’re going to have to make, and then there are tweaks [you make] in yourself, but for the most part, I want them to accept me for who I am.“New episodes of90 Day: The Single Lifedrop Sundays on discovery+.

90 Day FiancéstarEd “Big Ed” Brownis once again on the search for love — and it’s come with new hurdles.

Big Ed, 55, stars in the newly launcheddiscovery+spinoff90 Day:The Single Life, in which six alums from the franchise take another shot at finding “the one.” (Watch a clip from Sunday’s premiere above.)

“I saw this as an opportunity for me to work on myself, andThe Single Lifeis not like a dating show. It’s not likeThe Bachelor,” he tells PEOPLE. “It’s really about them just following me around on my journey to get back into the dating scene.”

“The first thing I did was I hired an exercise coach and a dating coach,” he continues. “And I signed up on like, six different dating websites and just, you know, put myself out there.”

Big Ed.TLC

Along the way, his journey did take few a wrong turns — and he says he “was catfished about 15 times.”

“I was beginning to get really discouraged, to be quite honest,” he admits. “Because once you’re in the public eye, people know who you are.”

Big Ed says the individuals that were attempting to catfish him were using pictures that “were like, 15 to 20 years younger — they weren’t current.”

“And that happened over 15 times,” he says. “I was like, ‘Oh, that’s it.'”

Big Ed.Discovery+

Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.

The interior designer says he persevered because “I’m 55 years old, and I’m worried about dying alone.”

“I would want to meet my life partner,” he says. “And whether that leads to marriage or not, I want to be with one person, the one, you know, for the rest of my life.”

So what kind of woman is he looking for? “Someone that’s very caring,” he says. “That’s not selfish. That’s not greedy. That’s not materialistic. And that loves me for who I am.”

“I want to be with somebody that doesn’t want to change me, and I want to be with somebody that I don’t want to change them,” he says. “And there are always, always going to be tweaks that they’re going to have to make, and then there are tweaks [you make] in yourself, but for the most part, I want them to accept me for who I am.”

New episodes of90 Day: The Single Lifedrop Sundays on discovery+.

source: people.com