When joining 90 Day Fiancé: Hunt for Love, Cortney Reardanz was nervous about a few things — including which franchise alums might be involved.
“I was worried Ed ‘Big Ed’ Brown or Angela [Deem] were going to be there and fighting or instigating stuff the whole time,” Cortney, 34, exclusively told Us Weekly. ” I was a little nervous about that.”
Instead, Cortney was joined by Rob Warne, Colt Johnson, Chantel Everett, Usman “Sojaboy” Umar, Tim Malcolm, Tiffany Franco and Jeniffer Tarazona. Cortney had an immediate reaction to seeing Usman — who seemingly didn’t recognize her — on the spinoff.
“I’ve met him. It’s like, ‘Who else is tall and blonde and sounds like me?’ It’s like, ‘This is me,’” she quipped. “”Why are you acting brand new? Or you don’t know me?’”
Couples Who Survived the Reality TV Curse (So Far)
Cortney joined the TLC series hopeful that she would find someone special, adding, “I’m 34. I feel like I’ve been trying on my own to find love, so why not let the professionals help me find love?”
After going through “so many different exams and matchmakers” before officially appearing on Hunt for Love, Cortney knew the show was “serious” about finding The One for her.
“But I didn’t know there’d be so many workshops,” she added. “It was a lot of work. It was a lot.”
The 90 Day Fiancé originated in 2014 and followed the unique 90 Day Fiancé (K-1) visa process that allows overseas engaged individuals to travel to the United States to live with their partners for the first time.
After the initial success, 90 Day Fiancé expanded to include spinoffs such as 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?, 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, 90 Day Fiancé: What Now?, 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, 90 Day Fiancé: Pillow Talk, 90 Day Fiance: Just Landed and many more.
For reference, Cortney’s worry about Big Ed, 60, joining the newest iteration comes after he appeared on 90 Day Fiancé with failed engagements to Rose Vega and Liz Woods, respectively.
“I get wedding proposals almost every other day. They’re [from people] over 85 years old and I don’t even know where their nursing home is, so I don’t respond to those,” Ed exclusively told Us in May 2024. “The last crazy DM I just got, they’re actually neighbors [who] invited me to go on a couple’s trip to Florida, all expenses paid. I’m like, well, ‘I’m single, don’t worry.’ We’re all going to have a lot of fun. I’m like, ‘Why don’t we just grab a drink locally and see what happens?’ I get a lot of those requests.”
Failed Reality TV Romances Over the Years
The TLC personality told Us he was surprised by the overwhelming support, adding, “People want to take me out to dinner or to lunch and what I don’t like about that is that they don’t want to have lunch with me. They want to have lunch with ‘Big Ed,’ and that comes with the territory.”
Ed also opened up about his search for love, which didn’t end up including Hunt for Love.
“I’ve been dating. It’s still weird because even the word ‘date,’ it has a negative connotation because when you date someone, you’re basically pretending to be somebody else,” he concluded. “So what I’m focusing on [is] developing friendships. I have a handful of people [who] I’ve met through the industry that we go to lunch together, we go to Top Golf, we go to happy hours together. And so, I’m patiently waiting for the right person to come along.”
90 Date: Hunt for Love premieres on TLC Monday, May 26, at 8 p.m. ET. The Hunt for Love: Between the Sheets after show airs following every new episode.
