Let’s Make a Deal host and long-time Whose Line is It Anyway? performer Wayne Brady recently opened up about his identity by coming out as pansexual. Welcome to the LGBTQ+ club, Wayne!
Pansexuality is a sexual or romantic orientation referring to individuals who are attracted to others regardless of gender identity. Brady spoke to People magazine on Monday about the journey of self-discovery that helped him come to terms with his sexuality. After Robin William died in 2014, Brady began to be more open about his mental health; “Not just the buzzword of mental health,” he specified during his interview, “but really what do I have to do to function in this big world and still be okay with yourself and more importantly, to love yourself so that you don’t hurt yourself?”
For Brady, loving himself involved some soul-searching and “owning up” to things about himself that he had long been ignoring. “Let’s be really honest: 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,” he told People. “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 have not gotten a chance to act on anything.” After looking into it, Brady settled on pansexuality (“Bisexual — with an open mind!” he jokingly told the publication) because it most aligned with his experience.
“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.”
The first person Brady told about this realization was his ex-wife Mandie Taketa. “I just said, ‘Great.’ As I knew coming out would help him be happier,” she told People. Daughter Malie was similarly chill; “I just said, ‘Okay,'” she shared with the magazine.
While Brady has always lived as an ally, he “always felt like a sham” because he wasn’t living openly. “I’ve told myself in the past also – nobody needs to know my personal business. The world can absolutely go without knowing that Wayne identifies as pan,” he spoke of the reasoning behind never speaking about his identity until now. “But that gave me license to still live in the shadows and be secretive.” He told People that he now wants to live authentically “as a single, open-minded pansexual” but admits he wants to do some more work on himself before he jumps into the dating pool again.
“I’m still coming together. But If I’m healthy, then I can go onstage at Let’s Make A Deal and be the best Wayne Brady that everybody wants and expects. I can be the best dad that Maile needs. I can be the best friend to Mandie, the best son to my mother, and one day, the best partner to someone, because I’m doing this for me.”
