Wayne Brady has come out as pansexual or as he calls it “bisexual with an open mind.”
“In doing my research, both with myself and just with the world, I couldn’t say if I was bisexual, because I had to really see what that was, especially because I really have not gotten a chance to act on anything,” the “Let’s Make a Deal” host, 51, told People magazine in a recent interview.
“So, I came to pansexual because — and I know that I’m completely messing up the dictionary meaning — but to me, pan means being able to be attracted to anyone who identifies as gay, straight, bi, transsexual or non-binary.”
“Being able to be attracted across the board,” he continued. “And, I think, at least for me for right now, that is the proper place. I took pan to mean that not only can I be attracted to any of these people or types physically, but I could be attracted to the person that is there.”
He jokingly clarified himself by putting it another way, “Bisexual — with an open mind!”
Despite dubbing himself as “bisexual with an open mind,” Wayne admitted that he has never dated a man.
“I’ve also been attracted to certain men in my life, but I’ve always pushed that aside because of how I was raised, and because I live in today’s world, and it’s scary as s–t,” he explained.
“What’s the fastest way to hurt another man? I’m gonna call you out of your name. I’m gonna call you gay. I’m gonna emasculate you. I’m gonna use the F-word. I learned that very early from the people around me, they’re like, “Oh, so those are bad things? Yeah. You, you don’t wanna be that.”
He continued, “So, what does it mean if I feel something? I don’t think I’m gay, but what if I feel something for another [man] … That’s still gay. I was already bullied about a bunch of other s–t. I didn’t wanna add a top hat on top of that suit.”
However, despite coming clean about his sexuality, the TV personality admitted he is still single.
“It’s not about being with someone right now. I’ve got some work to do still,” he explained.”Then, Wayne as a single, open-minded pansexual can make a decision and be free and open to other people.”
The Emmy winner was married to Mandie Taketa, with whom he shares a 20-year-old daughter named Maile, from 1999 to 2008.
Despite divorcing, the two have remained best friends. In fact, during the Covid-19 lockdown, Brady was quarantined with Maile, Taketa and Taketa’s boyfriend, Jason Fordham.
“It was weird that it was considered unusual,” Brady told Pvnew about the public’s reaction to their lockdown situation in 2021.
“That’s just our family. And we aren’t like that because we put our daughter first. We are like that because Mandie, my ex, is also my best friend and she’s my production partner. We have a company together, we work together, we love each other, we are a family.”
“I love Jason. He’s a member of our family, so we have something that is out of the ordinary, but it’s a shame that it is out of the ordinary because it would be great if we could have more relationships built out of years of trust and love, and you can move on if you need to move on,” he added.
The quartet is so close that they are currently filming a Hulu reality series about their blended family. Taketa and Fordham welcomed a baby in 2021 and Brady is considered a co-parent.
During his interview with People, Brady revealed that Taketa was the first person he came out to.
“I just said, ‘Great.’ As I knew coming out would help him be happier,” she told the outlet while Maile admitted she was non-plussed about the news.
The “Whose Line is it Anyway?” performer also shared that he has done a lot of therapy and has been treated for “love addiction.”
“I had to start examining why I was looking for myself and happiness in a slew of people,” he explained. “If I marry this person, then everything will be fine. If I date this person, everything will be fine. I’ll be good. I’ll be fixed. That is obviously a problem.
“And so, in doing that work, I now know absolutely that love addiction is borne of trauma. I can’t feel any shame around that, just like I wouldn’t shame somebody if they said they were addicted to meth or cocaine. That’s a sickness.”
Brady also admitted that he toyed with the idea of not coming out, saying, “The world can absolutely go without knowing that Wayne identifies as pan.”
However, he decided against it as “that gave me license to still live in the shadows and be secretive.
“What does that feel like to actually not be shameful, to not feel like, “Oh, I can’t be part of this conversation because I’m lying?” I had to break that behavior.”
