Wayne Brady has revealed why he has kept his sexual orientation a big secret from fans and family for years.
The television host and comedian joins his blended family: ex-wife and business partner Mandie Taketa, 21-year-old daughter Maile, and ex-wife’s partner Jason Michael Fordham. Eastern Standard Time‘S Pour E-Tea Gain insight into his sexual preferences and interesting family relationships.
Wayne, Mandie, Maile and Jason will appear on a reality show together. Wayne Brady: The Family Remix. The show gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look into a family that is very different from the typical family.
Wayne and Mandy were married in 1999 but divorced 17 years ago. Since then, they have remained close friends and business partners, so it was only natural that Mandy would seek answers about how her ex-husband and business partner understands her sexual orientation. She asked him why it took him so long to come out to her that he is pansexual.
“The answer is simple: I didn’t know! I didn’t know what it was called,” Wayne said. “It wasn’t like I had some secret where I would sit around and go out at night and be a pansexual Batman.”
“I didn’t know what it was called, because I think we’ve come so far in terms of vocabulary and understanding and acceptance.”
He continued: “Back in the day, there was a lot of questioning, ‘Are you gay or not?'”
“You know, you might find that person attractive, but that person is a man, and you might find that person attractive, but those two things aren’t as black and white as that,” Wayne continued. “I’ve learned that through all this time and effort and therapy and all the fights I’ve had in therapy… I’ve been able to move beyond self-hate, and especially the language that’s been instilled in me by[my]generation.”
Wayne once explained that he had to get off the “shame train” he was leading. “It took all this time, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is it, I’m going crazy, I don’t want to have secrets.’ That’s why it took so long.”
Mandy asked Wayne if he was nervous about coming out to her, and Wayne admitted that he was “nervous to say it out loud” because she was his “best friend” and that he was afraid that if he got on the “shame train” he would be ostracized by his family.
In August 2023, Wayne came out as pansexual. In an interview with People , he said, “I did some research on myself and the world, and I couldn’t say I was bisexual because I really needed to know what it was, especially since I had never really had the opportunity to do anything about it.”
Wayne Brady: The Family Remix It airs on Freeform and is streaming on Hulu.
