Former Whose Line Is It Anyway? star Wayne Brady is revealing how his sexuality impacts his parenting. "I feel lighter, because I'm me," Brady, 53, told People in an interview published on Saturday, January 17. "That lets me be a better actor. Lets me be a better performer onstage. Lets me be a better dad. Lets me be a better partner to someone someday. I'm happier, I'm brighter." The Let's Make a Deal host shares 22-year-old daughter Maile Masako with his ex-wife, Mandie Taketa. The actor came out as pansexual in August 2023, sharing that famed actor and comedian Robin Williams' death "impacted" him so much that he felt he needed to better understand himself. (Williams died by suicide in 2014 at the age of 63.) "After Robin's death, I got involved in certain groups, like Glenn Close's group, Bring Change to Mind, being very vocal about mental health," he told People at the time. "Once I opened that door to myself though, I had to start learning about myself, and I had to start owning up to things that maybe I'd either repressed, surprised, or just didn't wanna deal with." Everything Wayne Brady Has Said About Coming Out as Pansexual He explained," I gave joy at work. But the pity is then I come home, and I don't have that joy. I have joy because I love my daughter and I love my family. I love being a dad more than chocolate ice cream. But that can't be my only joy. I have to love myself. And that's when I realized that I had a problem because if I can spend everything on stage and on camera but then I come home and there is a love deficit, what is going on?" A year later, while exclusively speaking to Us Weekly at the Advocate + Out Pride cover launch party, that he no longer cared what people thought when it came to his sexuality. "I don't give a f*** anymore," Brady told Us in June 2024. "I no longer walk around with shame or fear of blackmail - and that's the biggest thing." Wayne Brady Getty Images Before hosting the GLAAD awards that same year, Brady shared how he realized he was pansexual. "I had to do research and find out what it was that I [am]," he told People while walking the red carpet. "The biggest misconception - and I even make a joke about it onstage tonight - is that people think that you're an indecisive bisexual. No, no. Let me set you straight." He continued, "What the definition basically boils down to is, regardless of gender, regardless. So that means that I am happily free to fall in love with anybody here. If you're gay, if you're straight, if you're non-binary, trans, I don't care. It's the person, which in my mind is the ultimate in acceptance and loving." Brady's ex, Taketa, was extremely supportive in the wake of Brady's self-discovery. Wayne Brady Felt Like a 'Sham' Before Coming Out As Pansexual "I Just said, 'Great.' As I knew coming out would help him be happier," she said of her ex's sexuality in August 2023. "I just said, 'Okay.'" In Saturday's interview, Brady further explained why it's so important to him that he continue to be open and honest about his sexuality. "I'm a believer in really trying to help the next generation," he told People. "And I think that if there's any little black [or] brown kid growing up in any hood - any town USA - [who] feels bad about themselves or ashamed about themselves or less than, I hope that if they see me, and if they're familiar with me, like, 'Oh, that's Wayne. And he just said what? Maybe I can be verbal about myself. So I don't have to carry that rock.'"