Wayne Brady has revealed why he decided to keep his sexual orientation a secret from fans and family for so many years.
The TV host and comedian joined his blended family, which includes his ex-wife and business partner Mandy Taketa, their 21-year-old daughter Maile, and his ex-wife’s partner Jason Michael Fordham, during an appearance on ET’s show. Spilling E-Tea To gain insight into his sexuality and interesting family dynamics.
Wayne, Mandy, Miley and Jason star in reality TV show Wayne Brady: The Family Remix. This show gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at a household that’s anything but typical.
Wayne and Mandy married in 1999 but divorced seven years ago. Since then, the two have remained close friends and business partners, so it’s only natural that Mandy would ask how her ex-husband and business partner understands his sexuality — namely, why it took him so long to come out as pansexual.
“The answer is simple: I didn’t know! I didn’t even know the name,” Wayne said. “I didn’t have a secret and go out at night as a pansexual Batman.”
“I didn’t know what it was called because I think the vocabulary for those terms has developed quite a bit. And the understanding and acceptance.”
He continued, “Back in the day, a lot of the questions were, ‘Are you gay or not?'”
“You might find that person attractive, that’s a man, and you might find this woman attractive, but I’ve also learned that things aren’t so black and white,” Wayne continued, “and in my case, it took all this time and effort and therapy and fighting in therapy to get out of the self-hatred — not the self-hatred, but the words that were instilled in me, especially by my parents.” [my] generation.”
Wayne explained that at one point he needed to get off the “shame train” he was leading: “It took a long time, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is reality. I don’t want to be funny and I don’t want to have secrets.’ That’s why it took so long.”
Mandy asked Wayne if he was nervous about coming out, and he admitted he was “nervous to say it out loud” because she was his “closest friend” and feared the next stop on his “shame train” would be being abandoned by his family.
In August 2023, Wayne came out as pansexual. peopleHe said, “After researching both myself and the world, I didn’t know if I was bisexual because I needed to really understand what it was, especially since I hadn’t had a chance to actually act on it.”
Wayne Brady: Family Remix is on Freeform and available to stream on Hulu.
