Wayne Brady comes out as pansexual

Singer-actor-dancer and “Let’s Make a Deal” host Wayne Brady has come out as pansexual, a term encompassing attraction to the wide spectrum of human sexuality and gender identity.

“As someone who gets to bring joy to others daily on TV, it's been ironic that I don't experience it as much as I'd like,” the “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Emmy Award winner wrote on social media Monday, in a long message accompanying a song-and-dance comedy video with him lip-syncing to Celine Dion’s 1996 single “It's All Coming Back to Me Now.”

“I advocate mental health for all,” he continued, “and a part of that is self transparency. In doing my work, I've come to see a few truths, one of them being that I want to be free to love whomever I want. This truth makes me Pan and part of the lgbtq+ family.”

The term “pansexual” describes “a person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions to any person, regardless of gender identity,” according to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD.

“It's scary as hell to say out loud but here it is,” wrote Brady, 51. “The people I admire the most are the ones brave enough to be themselves unapologetically. … I was so afraid of having my manhood questioned, but ... ‘real man’ in my eyes, isn't afraid to be honest and happy….”

“Welcome and Congratulations! Love you, my friend,” commented his “Whose Line” cast mate Colin Mochrie on Instagram. “You do you boo ! :) u know I love ya !!!” wrote singer-actor and TV personality Joey Fatone. Others offering support included actors Tituss Burgess, Alyssa Milano and Marissa Jaret Winokur, “Dancing with the Stars” ballroom pro Sasha Farber, music icon Melba Moore and “Jersey Shore” star Vinny Guadagnino, as well as the official “Let’s Make a Deal” Instagram account.

Brady explained to People magazine in an interview posted Monday, “In doing my research … I couldn't say if I was bisexual, because I had to really see what that was …. So, I came to pansexual because … to me, pan means being able to be attracted to anyone who identifies as gay, straight, bi, transsexual or nonbinary. … And, I think, at least for me for right now, that is the proper place.”

He added, “I’ve been attracted to men at times in my life. But I have never dated a man.” And he 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.”

Brady was married from December 1993 to September 1995 to Diana Lasso. In April 1999 he married Oahu-born dancer Mandie Taketa, with whom he has daughter Maile, 20. The couple separated in 2006 and divorced two years later. They remain close friends, as well as partners in Brady’s production company, and Brady is considered a co-parent of Taketa and her boyfriend Jason Michael Fordham’s adopted toddler, Sundance.