Wayne Brady reveals why he waited years to tell his ex-wife he was pansexual

Wayne Brady has opened up about why he kept his sexuality hidden from his loved ones.

He how I Met Your Mother The actor publicly revealed for the first time that he identified as pansexual during an interview withPeople in August 2023. “I am pansexual. [I’m] “I am bisexual and open-minded,” he told the outlet.

“So, I came to be pansexual because, and I know I’m completely confusing the dictionary meaning, to me, pan means being able to be attracted to anyone who identifies as gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, or nonbinary. Being able to be attracted to anyone.”

Recently, Brady, along with his ex-wife and business partner, Mandie Taketa, their daughter, Maile, 21, and Mandie's life partner, Jason Michael Fordham, spoke with AND on the way they function as a family.

At one point, Brady was asked why he had waited more than 10 years to come out to Taketa as pansexual. “The answer is easy: because I didn’t know! I didn’t even know what his name was,” Brady said.

“It’s not like I had this secret that I sat around with and at night I came out as a pansexual Batman.”

Brady and Taketa married in 1999 before divorcing in 2008. A year later, she met Fordham, who was one of Brady's backup dancers at the time. They currently have one child together, a two-year-old boy named Sundance. Brady also has a son with his ex-girlfriend Tina, named Val Henry.

“I didn’t know what it was called because I think we’ve come a long way with the lexicon of those terms, right? And with understanding and acceptance,” Brady continued. “Because in the past, it was very common: ‘Well, you’re gay and you’re not?’”

“Knowing, well, maybe I find that person attractive, but he’s a man, but I also think that this woman is attractive, but also learning that it’s not just black and white like those two things. For me, it took all this time and all this work and all this therapy and all this struggle in therapy to get there. [away from] “The language that is instilled in you,” he added.

Taketa was the first person Brady came out to. Brady recalls her telling him that coming out was “great” for him because “he knew coming out would help him be happier.”

“I'm still recovering, but if I'm healthy, then I'll be able to get on stage in Let's make a Deal and be the best Wayne Brady that everyone wants and expects,” Brady said.

“I can be the best father Maile needs. I can be Mandie’s best friend, my mother’s best son, and one day, someone’s best partner, because I’m doing this for me,” he said.

He added at the time: “I’m not dating yet though! I’m single, but it’s not about being with someone right now. I still have work to do. Then Wayne, as a single, open-minded pansexual, can make a choice and be free and open to other people.”