Wayne Brady reveals he's a dad again in his 50s to new son Val: 'I want him to know that there's no shame'

Welcome to Wayne’s world.

Wayne Brady reintroduces himself with his new Freeform reality series Wayne Brady: The Family Remix. “I’m a lot of things to a lot of people,” the actor, comedian, and TV host says in the debut episode (out now), “but so much of my life has been in secret.” Last summer Brady came out as pansexual, defined as an attraction to people of any gender or regardless of gender. The series premiere follows Brady as he takes measured steps to let the public in on his truth. But he also lets viewers in on another secret: at the age of 52, Brady is a father again.

In addition to 21-year-old daughter Maile, a stunned Brady has learned that he’s the father of a 6-month-old son, Val Henry. He welcomed Val with an ex named Tina, whom he had an on and off relationship with during the pandemic. “I was floored,” he says in the episode. “Was I happy? No, because I was in shock.” But much time has passed since the surprise, and Brady now tells Entertainment Weekly he's ready to tackle fatherhood again. “I’m a proud father,” he says, adding of Val, “I want him to know that there's no shame attached to him.”

Brady is ready to be transparent about it all, supported by his close-knit blended family/costars: ex-wife, best friend, and business partner Mandie Taketa; their actress daughter Maile; Taketa’s new partner and Brady's former backup dancer Jason Fordham; and Taketa and Fordham’s young son Sunny, whom Brady acts as a duncle (dad/uncle) for. Below are excerpts from EW's chat with Brady, also an executive producer on the series, about the big premiere.

On Mandie's relationship with Jason and his early struggles to accept it

Despite having been separated from Taketa for several years by that point, Brady initially "hated" her relationship with Fordham, a backup dancer on Brady's 2009 Las Vegas residency. He'd even threaten to kick Fordham's ass.

"I think that's actually closer to the norm than not," Brady tells EW of that "toxic" behavior. "People break up and there's a sense of not wanting to let the other person move on. Or you don't move on. I was stuck in that space." It wasn't until daughter Maile sent him a video of folks thanking the current partners of their exes for being in their lives that "it hit me like a ton of bricks": "I had to let go of that toxic masculine trait" and "evolve" out of that "archaic caveman" thinking of, "If I can't have you, no one can have you," he says.

Brady adds of Fordham (who very much has Golden Retriever boyfriend energy), "He's a great dude and never spoke ill of me, never disrespected me in front of my daughter, and always respected her mother. How can I in good conscience see that and be mad about that? That's to be celebrated." He also knew it was time to change his perspective after Maile had to lie about the good times she was having when she'd go out with her mother and her new partner. "I was shutting my daughter down. How dare I?" His acceptance also strengthened his relationship with Taketa.

On how he feels about Maile following in his showbiz footsteps

A full-time college student studying theater at Los Angeles' Loyola Marymount University, Maile is an actress, dancer, and singer who has appeared on episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful. Does Brady have any anxieties over his daughter pursuing a career in Hollywood? Not at all. Would you ask a TV repairman or plumber the same question?  "People make such a big deal out of it," he says. "If it's the family business, it's the family business."

Brady notes, "The only reservations I have don't even concern her. If show business were just about how good you were and the work, then it would be one thing. But it isn't. So I have concerns about that for her. But she knows that now. She knows that fair is a concept and not a real thing. She knows she has to put in the work, and she knows that at the end of the day, she can't change anyone else's mind. She has a wonderful attitude about this."

But on top of that, "she's a super talented actress, a wonderful writer, and a great singer," says the proud dad. "She just needs to do her own journey now. And if she stumbles and falls sometimes, then that's what she's going to do. But I think she's definitely going to succeed. I'm worried about the rest of the world, but I'm not worried about her."

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On the decision to be transparent about his son Val

Brady already had anxieties over how the industry would receive his public coming out. Imagine his surprise, then, when the bombshell was dropped that he's a father again. But Brady is now ready for another go around at fatherhood and plans to be a present co-parent with his ex.

"I don't want my son's face all up in the sauce and on social media because he's a baby and didn't choose that. But I'm a proud father," Brady says. "Anyone that knows me with Maile knows that, anyone that sees me with Sonny knows that. I love kids. My son Val is a blessing. And maybe his mother and I are not together in that way, but just like with Mandie, we're going to co-parent."

Brady says of the importance of documenting that journey on the show, "As much as people have been inspired by my co-parenting journey with Mandie, now they get to see somebody who at 50 can be a father again and approach it with, 'I'm in it and I'm proud of my son.' I want him to know that there's no shame attached to him, so I'm going to speak out loud about him."

On what the family dynamic will look like this season

The rest of the season will follow the family as they do what they love the most: creating and working together — one of which being a music video for Maile’s upcoming single. It’s all love — but they’re also still a family, after all. “It’s not always sunshine and roses,” Brady says. “Sometimes families get mad at each other. Sometimes we're very petty to each other.” But on top of that, viewers will “see the passion that we all have for each other,” he says.

There’s also some uncharted territory for the Brady bunch. “I've already done the parenting thing once when I was 30,” Brady notes. “What's it like now? How has the parenting game changed? What's the relationship like with myself and Tina, Val's mom? What about Jason and Mandie? Is he going to propose to her? That's something that they talk about. What's Maile going to do now with a little bit of freedom under her belt? We have a lot to show.”

And a note to Broadway enthusiasts: expect a pop-in from actor and Tony winner Ben Vereen, a fatherlike figure for Brady who appears to impart some advice. “I call him pop,” Brady says. “If anyone's in the show, it's because they genuinely are family.”

New episodes of Wayne Brady: The Family Remix drop Wednesdays on Freeform and is available to stream the next day on Hulu.