Wayne Brady
Amanda Edwards/Getty ImagesWayne Brady he is proud of who he is.
The Let’s make a deal The game show host came out as pansexual in August 2023 and has since opened up about finally being able to live his life authentically.
“I don’t hurt anymore,” Brady explained exclusively Us Weekly to the Lawyer + For Pride cover release party in June 2024. “I no longer walk around in shame or fear of blackmail, and that’s the most important thing.”
After initially not knowing about pansexuality, Brady began researching what it meant to be attracted to all genders.
“I had to research and figure out what it was that I am,” he said people on the red carpet at the 2024 GLAAD Awards, where he hosted the awards show. “The biggest misconception, and I’m even making a joke about it on stage tonight, is that people think you’re an undecided bisexual. No, you’re not. Let me set the record straight.”
He continued: “What the definition basically boils down to is, regardless of gender, regardless. That means I’m happily free to fall in love with anyone here. If you’re gay, if you’re straight, if you’re non-binary, trans, I don’t care. It’s the person, who in my mind is the ultimate in acceptance and love.”
Brady first dated his ex-wife, Mandie Taketaand his daughter, Maile Bradyand received unwavering support.
“I just said, ‘Great.’ How I knew coming out would help him be happier,” Taketa said as she recalled their initial conversation about her ex’s sexuality. Brady’s daughter’s response was similar.
“I just said, ‘OK,'” he said people at that moment, breaking into a smile.
Read on for everything Wayne Brady had to say about coming out as pansexual.
Why Coming Out Made Him a Better Dad
In one interview with people posted on January 17, 2026 The TV host shared how his decision to come out as pansexual affected him as a parent.
“I feel lighter, because it’s me,” Brady told the network. “It allows me to be a better actor. It allows me to be a better performer on stage. It allows me to be a better parent. It allows me to be a better partner to somebody someday. I’m happier, I’m brighter.”
Your path to self-discovery
Brady shared in August 2023 that the death of the beloved actor and comedian Robin Williams it “really hit him” and sent him on his journey to find out who she was. (Williams died by suicide in 2014. He was 63.)
“After Robin died, I got involved in certain groups, like now Glenn Closethe Bring Change to Mind group, being very vocal about mental health,” she said people. “Once I opened that door to myself, I had to start learning about myself and I had to start admitting things that maybe I had repressed, suppressed or just didn’t want to deal with.”
He explained: “I gave joy at work. But the pity is that I come home, and I don’t have that joy. I have joy because I love my daughter and I love my family. I like being a father more than chocolate ice cream. But that can’t be my only joy. I have to love myself. And that’s when I realized that I had a problem because if I can spend everything on stage, what is love on stage?
Addiction to love
The Bold and beautiful The actor got candid about how going to therapy for love addiction helped him process his sexuality.
As LGBTQ+ representation in the media becomes more common, some celebrities have rejected the expectation that they must define their sexuality. “I don’t feel like it’s something I’ve ever felt I had to explain about myself,” Harry Styles said of his sexuality in a 2017 interview with The Sun. “It’s strange because (…)
“It’s a part of my journey,” she shared. “I had to start examining why I was looking for myself and happiness in a bunch of people. If I marry this person, then everything will be fine. If I date this person, everything will be fine. I’ll be fine. I’ll be fixed. That’s obviously a problem.”
Brady added, “And so, doing this work, I now absolutely know that love addiction is born out of trauma. I can’t feel any shame about it, just like I wouldn’t shame someone if they said they were addicted to meth or cocaine. That’s a disease.”
reflection
Brady also reflected on his exit trip in one Instagram publication in August 2023.
“The people I admire most are the ones brave enough to be unapologetically themselves,” she wrote in part. “This shouldn’t rock anyone’s world, but if it bothers you at all, that’s yours: I was so afraid of having my manhood questioned, but screw it. A ‘real man’ in my eyes, isn’t afraid to be honest and happy. From now on, I’ll be here living my best life!”
Facing fears
Brady said so exclusively we in June 2024 that he feared coming out as pansexual would change his professional life.
“I didn’t know how I was going to overcome the obstacle of care,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, if I say certain things, I’m going to lose some of the audience that watches my shows and that watches daytime shows, and I’m going to lose that?’
He added: “I actually care a lot because I love my job. But if you can’t accept me as a person, maybe my humor isn’t for you. Maybe you shouldn’t watch me (or) maybe you shouldn’t support me. There’s someone else who emits a little more hate that you can hang out with.”
Reality Show
Brady and his blended family will appear in the new Hulu and Freeform reality series. Wayne Brady: The Family Remixit was issued in July 2024.
“Not only do I feel proud to show it, but I feel a sense of responsibility,” he said we. “I think for a young woman (like) my daughter growing up, seeing her mom and dad have a relationship that doesn’t work in the conventional sense, but seeing her dad love her mom, support her mom, and her mom support her dad, and we tell her, ‘We’re here and we have each other,’ and there’s nothing acrimonious, that there’s love, I think her relationship model goes a long way.”