Wayne Brady Reveals He Is Pansexual

Wayne Brady has shared that he’s pansexual.

In an interview with People magazine, the comedian said he identifies as being attracted to people regardless of their gender or sex.

“Bisexual — with an open mind!” he described it to the outlet.

Brady explained how he realized that he was pansexual. “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."

“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 nonbinary. Being able to be attracted across the board.”

He went on to say he thinks this is “the proper place” for him.

“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.”

Brady told People that while he has been interested in men in the past, he never pursued a relationship with any of them.

“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 sh*t. 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.”

Brady added that his ex-wife Mandie Taketa was the first person he came out to. She told People she thought it was “great” and that she “knew coming out would help him be happier.”

The “Deal or No Deal” host also revealed how the death of actor Robin Williams in 2014 had an immense impact on leading him to self-discovery.

“After Robin’s death, I got involved in certain groups, like Glenn Close’s group, Bring Change to Mind, being very vocal about mental health. And not just the buzzword of mental health, 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? Not even just physically hurting yourself, but not taking care of yourself because you are depressed and frightened and weighed down.”

He added that once he opened that door, he knew he “had to start learning” about himself and begin taking responsibility for things that he had “repressed, suppressed, or just didn’t wanna deal with.”

“One of the last things on that checklist was, what’s one of the last things that you need to be really happy and to be truly, authentically yourself? I gave joy at work. But the pity is then I come home, and I don’t have that joy. I have joy because I love my daughter and I love my family. I love being a dad more than chocolate ice cream. But that can’t be my only joy. I have to love myself."

He went on, “And that’s when I realized that I had a problem because if I can spend everything onstage and on camera but then I come home and there is a love deficit, what is going on? That was my rock-bottom.”

Wayne said that he has dealt with feeling “shame” but knew he had to get past that.

“I’ve always had a wonderful community of friends who are in the LGBTQ+ community, people that I’ve grown up with in shows, gays and lesbians, and, later in life, my trans relatives and my niece. I’ve always had that community, but I’ve always felt like a sham because I wasn’t being forthcoming with myself,” he said.

He added, “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. But that gave me license to still live in the shadows and to 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.”