Wayne Brady Talks Mental Health, Music, and Family Dynamics in Wayne Brady: The Family Remix!
For years now the multi-talented Wayne Brady has been bringing laughter into people’s homes. Now, he is drawing the curtain back in his new reality series Wayne Brady: The Family Remix. The show stars Brady alongside his ex wife and best friend Mandi Taketa, her life partner Jason Michael Fordham, and Brady’s daughter Maile Brady as they navigate a blended family life. Pop Culture Planet’s Mandi Laudenslager spoke to the family about the show and finally being able to speak their truths.
Brady has opened about his struggles with depression and mental health in the past, and while filming the show he almost called it quits. He revealed that it was his family that kept him going. “It’s not my story, it’s our story. And everytime I had a doubt, I really had to think about the intention and why we were doing the show in the first place,” he said. “We were doing it to show what a family like ours looks like, the things we go through, and the things we share.”
The series shows these moments in heartwarming and emotional ways. The fans will definitely get to see some tear-jerking moments between the family. “I used to say I wasn’t a crier, but now, after watching the show, I’m a crier,” Mandie Taketa said. “The audience gets to witness me meeting the new Wayne for the first time. It was truly real and the journey was real for us.”
Taketa and Brady’s daughter Maile also gained a new sense of independence while filming the reality series. Growing into a young adult, Maile moves out, goes to college, and has started to take her music career more seriously. “I do have projects coming out and I’m super excited,” she shared. “I want to do more performances and hopefully the world gets to hear what I’ve been working on.” Maile also announced a new EP titled World’s Best Ex-Girlfriend is in the works and is set to release in September.
There are many different musical performances and a ton of dancing in the series. In fact, before Jason Michael Fordham and Mandie got together, he was Wayne’s backup dancer! When asked about this change in dynamic, Fordham said, “Wayne and I have become a lot closer. Relationships take time and we’ve given each other that time. At the end of the day, our default is family.”
After speaking with the core four about the reality series, Wayne reminisces on filming the reality show with his blended family and finally getting to speak his truth. “I am very lucky I have my tribe,” he said. “I really believe now more than ever family is not always blood. Family, in a nutshell, are the people that love you back.”
Wayne Brady: The Family Remix premieres on Freeform on July 24 and Hulu the next day.
