‘Let’s Make a Deal’ host Wayne Brady says he is pansexual

By Hafsa Khalil, CNN

(CNN) — Wayne Brady, known for hosting the TV show “Let’s Make a Deal,” has announced that he is pansexual.

“I advocate mental health for all 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,” the game show host posted on Instagram.

“This truth makes me Pan and part of the Igbtq+ family.”

Brady said it was “scary as hell” to come out with his sexuality, but said those he admires most are people with the courage to be themselves.

“This shouldn’t shake anyone’s world, but if it bothers you at all, that’s your business: I was so afraid of having my manhood questioned, but screw that. A ‘real man’ in my eyes, isn’t afraid to be honest and happy,” he wrote.

“From now on, I’ll be over here living my best life,” he added.

In an interview with People published Monday, the 51-year-old opened up about his journey and how his sexuality was accepted by his daughter and ex-wife.

Brady explained that he arrived at pansexual and not bisexual because, to him, “pan means being able to be attracted to anyone who identifies as gay, straight, bi, transsexual or non-binary.”

“(It’s) being able to be attracted across the board,” he summarized, or, jokingly quipped, “Bisexual – with an open mind.”

People interviewed the television host while the family – 20-year-old daughter, Maile, ex-wife Mandie Taketa and her partner Jason Fordham – were filming for a reality series about their blended family.

Taketa was the first person Brady came out to.

“I just said, ‘Great.’ As I knew coming out would help him be happier,” Taketa told People. For daughter Maile, it was an even more simple response: “Okay,” she said, combined with a shrug.

Brady began his self-discovery journey after actor Robin Williams’ death in 2014, when he became vocal about mental health, he told People.

“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?” he said.

“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 added.

On social media, Brady called it “ironic” that he frequently brings joy to others on TV, but doesn’t experience it much himself.

But right now, he feels like he is in the right place, he said.

“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 … and one day, the best partner to someone, because I’m doing this for me,” he told People.

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