Wayne Brady Dishes on Co-Parenting With Ex-Wife Mandie Taketa

The singer and television personality is putting his unconventional family life on display.

By Brenda Alexander

Wayne Brady is putting his unconventional family life on display in the form of a new reality series. He and his ex-wife Mandie Taketa are thriving as a blended family. The show, Wayne Brady: The Family Remix, will premiere Wednesday on Freeform. And regardless of how crazy their familial lifestyle may look to the outside world, the singer and television personality believes viewers can learn from his family. 

"It's important to us to show what a family can look like when you choose each other," Brady told PEOPLE. Brady and Taketa wed in 1999 and separated in 2004. They share a 21-year-old daughter, Maile Brady. They sought therapy post their split to assist with their co-parenting. Now, they consider one another best friends. Beyond that, they are business partners. 

"We got healthy together, and we found a new friendship, a new family and a new safety within each other," Taketa says. "We're soulmates."

Taketa eventually fell in love with dating Jason Fordham, one Wayne's backup dancers, in 2009. The couple welcomed their son Sundance in September 2021. Maile and Fordham will also be featured on the show.

Fordham tells PEOPLE he knew his place from the start in the family and found it important for to give everyone time to adjust. "I would remove myself, especially in the beginning, to foster this support for the bigger picture," he said. 

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Wayne and Taketa say being raised in a "strict households" influenced their parenting style with their daughter."When we were parenting the first time, so much of both of our childhood traumas played itself out in rules," he says, adding, "We both come from very authoritarian backgrounds."

Recently, Brady has been open about his sexuality. In 2023, Brady described came out as pansexual, telling PEOPLE he is "bisexual — with an open mind." 

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