Wayne Brady says he needed “so much therapy” to co-exist with his blended family, but they’ve made it work in life and on reality television.
That family includes his ex-wife, Mandie Taketa, their daughter, Maile Brady, and Mandie’s life partner, Jason.
Known as the “Core Four,” they appeared on the first season of the Freeform reality TV series Wayne Brady: Family Remix.
The episodes provided a unique look at their everyday lives, including celebrations and challenges.
Among the stories presented were Wayne coming out as pansexual and wondering how others around him might handle that. In addition, he revealed he had a baby son that few people knew about until the show premiered.
During an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, Wayne spoke about reaching a healthy and happy place in life.
Wayne and his ex-wife spoke about what it took to be open as a blended family on Family Remix series
During the Core Four’s appearance on her show, Jennifer asked Wayne’s ex-wife and business partner, Mandie, what it took to open up for a reality TV show documenting her and her family’s life.
“We really wanted to normalize that a family can look whatever way felt safe to you,” Mandie told Jennifer.
“You don’t have to be blood-related. You have to find your people that have your back, that love you, and are willing to fight for your happiness, as well as take care of themselves at the same time,” she said.
“So much therapy. So much therapy,” Wayne added.
“We wanted to normalize being normal to a degree because you know we work in this business but at the end of the day, we are a family, we are people that have stuff going on. We have mental health struggles. We have fears, insecurities, all of those things that sometimes get glossed over because of your job,” Wayne said.
Jennifer mentioned that Wayne is “so authentic” and asked how he got to that space.
“Therapy, like I said earlier. Therapy and family,” he responded.
He said being authentic through the show has helped him on stage and also to be a “better father” and “better man.”
Brady said he’s ‘happiest’ he’s ever been in his life
Wayne admitted on The Jennifer Hudson Show that people didn’t know much about him during his earlier career because he chose to keep aspects of his life a secret.
The Let’s Make a Deal host and Whose Line Is It Anyway? star said he mostly just let people know him on stage or TV by singing, dancing, or joking around and never truly shared who he was with the world.
“Y’all didn’t know a lot about me because I was hiding all this stuff inside, and so we decided to break that wall down,” he said regarding their reality TV series.
Jennifer said there needs to be more examples like this of families who continue co-parenting as “a unit” in similar situations.
Another benefit of Wayne co-existing with his ex-wife and her life partner, Jason, is that he’s an uncle to Jason’s 3-year-old son. Wayne said he’s called “Uncle Weezy” and sometimes drives to their home if he’s in a bad mood because seeing his nephew cheers him up.
“This is the happiest that I think I’ve been in my life,” he told Jennifer, adding, “I’m not saying it’s all perfect, but as of right now, I’m very blessed.”
After filming for The Jennifer Hudson Show, Wayne and his family appeared in an Instagram clip, thanking fans for their love and asking for more support through streaming Family Remix to get a Season 2.
Wayne Brady: The Family Remix premiered in late July. The final episode of Season 1 aired on September 11. Viewers can watch all the episodes on demand on Freeform or Hulu.