Sure, 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? couple Ed "Big Ed" Brown and Liz Woods have endured some 11 dramatic breakups. But at least Liz has found a shiny new way of looking at the situation.
"I don't think we actually know the count anymore, to be honest" the reality star admitted when she and Ed sat down for an exclusive interview with E! News' Francesca Amiker. But, she joked, "I have enough diamonds to make up for every breakup."
And, you know what they say: The 12th time is the charm.
Having reunited shortly after calling off their engagement on-camera during January's Happily Ever After? tell-all, the pair were intrigued when producers approached them about a new spin-off.
On 90 Day: The Last Resort—which shows Ed, Liz and other franchise favorites like Yara Zaya and Jovi Dufren attempt to repair their faltering relationships—"Instead of watching us destroy ourselves, they actually brought in therapist help," explained Ed. "For me, I'm really happy."
And though the couple declined to clarify precisely how happy they are ahead of the season's Aug. 14 premiere, they weren't shy about dropping hints that any good Swiftie could untangle in a matter of seconds.
"This is a new location," Ed teased of speaking with E! from a mystery spot that's not their former San Diego home. And, as Liz noted, she's "still wearing a ring," while Ed coyly noted, "I don't have a ring yet."
Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.
And whether the on-off pair heads down the aisle or toward lucky relationship try no. 13, progress has been made, Liz insisted: "It's just crazy how much we've grown and have learned from each other."
Agreed Ed, "We're in a great place."
Credit what Ed calls their "therapy bootcamp", a team of specialists spending two weeks helping the 58-year-old photographer and the 31-year-old single mom he met while she was managing his favorite restaurant sharpen their communication skills and come to terms with their tendencies to self-sabotage.
"We not only learned things that we needed to deal with together, we needed to learn things about ourselves that we needed to work on individually," explained Liz. "So it was couples therapy, but then it was also individual therapy."
At the top of Ed's to-do list, he said, was "becoming a better listener. And just being more in tune with what makes me happy because you realize in a relationship, you expect the other person to tow the load and make you happy, and you have to really be happy within yourself to contribute to your partner."
Which is why Liz reasoned, they so often found themselves at odds. "I'm a total people-pleaser," she explained, "and I learned that I need to use my voice."
Not that she struggled in the past to explain precisely why she was bothered that he lied about texting with his former fiancée or accused her of hooking up with a former female coworker.
"It was me," Ed admitted when asked about what continued to drive them apart. "But insecurities, all that jealousy, all that stuff is gone. We're not dealing with that anymore."
Employing the tips they learned during their two-week retreat, he continued, "We're able to let a lot of the junk go and just learn more about each other."
And these days they're rather committed to their studies, Liz referencing "a drastic change" they made just weeks after leaving the Florida Keys resort.
Along with moving to a new state, they've begun to forge new friendships. "One thing that Liz and I did early on without even realizing is that you let people in your life that shouldn't be in your life," Ed explained of their clean slate approach. "We didn't take the time to really get to know who they were. And that backed up on us. And now that we have a new city, we can start over."
On that list of pals: fellow franchise stars Jovi ("He and I got really, really close," says Ed), Kalani Faagata, Asuelu Pulaa and even former foe Angela Deem. "I swear, she's the realest person," said Liz. "You either hate her or you love her. She's awesome."
But as great as these newly formed friendships are, their improved relationship is the best souvenir they brought home from Florida.
"Leaving the therapy bootcamp, the craziness of all of it, we came out with a clear, fresh start," said Liz. While she admitted they were hesitant to sign on, "for us, it's been the best thing that we could have ever done."
90 Day: The Last Resort premieres on Monday, August 14th at 9PM ET/PT on TLC.