Wayne Brady on Life 1 Year After Coming Out as Pansexual: 'One of the Sweetest Things That’s Happened' (Exclusive)

Wayne Brady is feeling “great” nearly one year after coming out as pansexual.

The entertainer, 52, exclusively told PEOPLE at the Wayne Brady: The Family Remix Tastemaker Event in The Hollywood Roosevelt in Los Angeles on July 22 that “not a lot has changed” since sharing his truth.

“Coming out was for me, so I didn't expect any grand... It wasn't a transformation, it isn't like the end of... No, thank you,” he shared. “It's not like Beauty and the Beast where all of a sudden you're whipped and changed. The change is internal and it's a great change to feel.”

Brady is happy to have found normalcy in his life after opening up about sexual orientation in August 2023.

“It's not the biggest thing that's happened in my life. It's one of the sweetest things that's happened in my life, and that's why I think it's good,” he said. “I don't walk around every day going, ‘Look at this difference, look at this change.’”

“It's normal, which everyone should be allowed to just have your baseline be whatever your happy is,” he continued. “And my happy is I can just be free, and do what I want to, when I want to do it, and with whomever. That's the cool part.”

The Let's Make a Deal host also opened up how he now defines success ahead of the premiere of his reality show Wayne Brady: The Family Remix, which chronicles his blended family with ex-wife Mandie Taketa, as they co-parent their 21-year-old daughter, Maile Brady, and remain “best friends” despite their separation in 2008, after nine years of marriage.

“The success is, ‘Holy crap, we've got a show on the air that has a multicultural, multi-generational family that looks like us. Holy crap, I was able to talk about issues that I haven't seen people talk about,’” he said. “To my knowledge, I'm the only me that has come out as pansexual in such a public way in my space, and I think the last metric of success is that I got to do it with the people I love.” 

“And so if anybody judges the show, I'd say the most success is a family looks at us and goes, ‘Oh, we're doing the right thing,’ or, ‘They're just like us,’ or what we end up getting a lot online is, ‘My ex and I aren't together. How can we have what you guys have?’” he added.

The key for Brady’s family is supporting each other no matter what, he shared. “You just got to be good to each other, and have years and years of history, and be willing to have each other's backs no matter what, and that's what we do. Mandy has had my back since 1995, and we'll have each other's backs until the grave.”

As for what’s next for Brady, he is returning to host another season of Let's Make a Deal in addition to developing new projects — including a scripted series and “an improvisational musical game show” — with Taketa.

“I'm looking forward to killing this next season of Let's Make a Deal. It's our 16th season. I'm so proud of it,” he shared. “So, we're up there, but this is our 16th season, and I'm really proud of the show and the way that we're able to give back to people and make everybody happy, which is what I enjoy doing, because I'm a cheerleader.”

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Wayne Brady: The Family Remix premieres Wednesday, July 24, at 10 p.m. ET on Freeform and can be streamed the next day on Hulu.