“I love all people equally, and now that includes myself.” With those words, Wayne Brady opened up his life to the world and is now fully living in his truth. With the unconditional support of his family, the Let’s Make a Deal host has come out as pansexual, dropping a weight that he’s been carrying around and choosing to be himself.
“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,” Brady told People. “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. 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.”
It was Robin Williams’ death that led Wayne down his path of self-discovery. He started examining his mental health more closely and realized there was a part of himself that he was keeping separate from the rest of his life.
“Once I opened that door to myself though, I had to start learning about myself, and I had to start owning up to things that maybe I’d either repressed, suppressed, or just didn’t wanna deal with,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of work on a lot of other things until now, 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 to love myself. And that’s when I realized that I had a problem because if I can spend everything on stage and on camera but then I come home and there is a love deficit, what is going on? That was my rock bottom.”
It’s no secret that Black people haven’t always been overly accepting of the LGBTQ+ community. It was these ingrained prejudices that kept the Whose Line Is It Anyway? star from exploring his sexuality. He admitted that he’s been attracted to men in the past, but he’s never acted on his feelings. Now that he’s left the shame behind and is comfortable with who he is, Wayne is ready to live a happy and healthy life with his family. He stresses that he’s not ready to start dating yet, as he’s still working on himself.
“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…Not dating yet though,” Brady said. “I am single, but it’s not about being with someone right now. I’ve got some work to do still. Then, Wayne as a single, open-minded pansexual can make a decision and be free and open to other people.”