Wayne Brady considers his ex-wife Mandie Taketa’s boyfriend, Jason Fordham, to be a “member of our family.”
The “Let’s Make a Deal” host, 48, made headlines last year when he revealed that he, Taketa, 45, their daughter, Maile, 18, and Fordham were quarantining together.
“It was weird that it was considered unusual,” Brady told Page Six about the public’s reaction to the foursome’s lockdown situation. “That’s just our family. And we aren’t like that because we put our daughter first. We are like that because Mandie, my ex, is also my best friend and she’s my production partner. We have a company together, we work together, we love each other, we are a family.”
The comedian explained that he and Taketa agreed after their 2007 divorce that “it’s better for our daughter to see that we’re actually friends, that we have each other’s back.”
“I love Jason. He’s a member of our family, so we have something that is out of the ordinary, but it’s a shame that it is out of the ordinary because it would be great if we could have more relationships built out of years of trust and love, and you can move on if you need to move on,” he added.
Brady and Taketa have both posted goofy videos of the four of them dancing together, and she uses the hashtag #corefour to describe the close bond they share.
In the beginning, forging a relationship wasn’t easy. Fordham was a backup dancer for Brady’s Las Vegas residency, and Taketa directed the production.
“[Mandie and I] weren’t together, but yeah, it was hard because I’m human,” the “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” star told us. “But because I’m also human, I learned from it.”
And the exes have no plans to stop working together. Brady is slated to star in an autobiographical hybrid comedy that is in development at CBS. Taketa and two “Will & Grace” producers are collaborating with Brady on the sitcom, which will follow a divorced couple who successfully co-parent in a blended multiracial family.
Despite much of Hollywood still being under quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, the former talk show host has continued to stay busy. He has a new single out called “Move Your Body,” and he’ll be hosting the 19th annual “Night Before” party, which will take place virtually on Saturday and feature performances by Sheila E. and El DeBarge.
And he is not the only family member with a song out. His daughter, Maile, recently released a single titled “Exhale.”
Brady told us that he has offered the teen only one nugget of advice.
“I said, ‘In everything you do from this point on, just be yourself as much as possible and do the things that you know you can do completely with fun and artistic integrity.’
“Sometimes you do something because the check is too great to pass up, but the lesson I’ve learned in my life is that even though the check is great, it’ll come back and kick you in the butt because if you’re not having a great time and if it doesn’t make you feel good, that money will go away at some point, but the person you’ve got to live with is still there,” he said.
This post first appeared on Nypost.com
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