Wayne Brady‘s romantic relationship with ex-girlfriend Tina is over but the drama — especially involving his daughter — isn’t.
Brady opened up about his ups and downs with Tina while filming his Freeform reality series, Wayne Brady: The Family Remix. He also used the opportunity to drop the bombshell that he secretly welcomed a child with Tina.
“My family is everything to me, but there are some things I’ve never told anybody outside of this immediate family. Like, I happen to have a 6-month-old son that people don’t know about,” Brady, who previously came out as pansexual, said during a July 2024 episode about his son, Val Henry.
After dating during the pandemic, Brady and Tina’s relationship fizzled out. They briefly reconnected, which led to Val being conceived. Brady, for his part, already shares an adult daughter named Maile with ex-wife Mandie Taketa.
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Brady attempted to adjust to his new normal, but he quickly found himself stuck between Tina and Maile. More specifically, Maile had a major problem with Tina that caused a divide within their blended family.
“When it was told to me that the spinster was with child, my reaction wasn’t awesome. I don’t trust her,” Maile said in a July 2024 confessional. “The string of events is suspicious in terms of my grandmother passing away, Val being conceived and then finding out that Tina is pregnant. I have always had a weird feeling about this situation.”
Tina, however, made an appearance on Brady’s show to express hope about a reconciliation with Maile.
Keep scrolling for more details on what caused the drama with Tina — and where Brady’s family stands now:
Not in the Best Place
Brady candidly discussed his conflicting feelings about sharing a child with Tina, sharing on his show, “When I first found out that Tina was pregnant, I was floored. It was not on my bingo card. A 51-year-old dad? I didn’t see it coming. So was I happy? No. Because I was in shock.”
The hardest part for Brady was figuring out how to coexist with his ex.
“Tina and I have to do this coparenting thing and the conversation has to start at some point, right?” he asked. “I’m in uncharted territory. How do I coparent with this person that I am not with and make this work?”
Wayne’s Daughter Taking Issue With His Ex
While Brady was focused on getting back in touch with Tina, his daughter was less than thrilled about Tina still being in their lives. His ex-wife, Taketa, admitted there were concerns about telling Maile that she had an infant brother.
“We didn’t want Maile to know about the pregnancy because we knew how she felt about Tina. Maile will say she warned Wayne about this happening,” Taketa shared with the cameras. “I didn’t make eye contact with Maile for three months.”
Maile offered her side of the story about why she was not “initially super happy” about Val‘s arrival because of how “worried” she was for her father. She added that she she didn’t “trust” Tina, which led to more issue within the family.
Tina Speaks Out
Brady’s ex was able to weigh in on the drama when she appeared on Wayne Brady: The Family Remix. Tina reflected on how “tough” it was trying to coparent with Brady while feeling all alone immediately after becoming a mother.
“The nitty-gritty of coparenting hasn’t happened yet, but I want Val to spend as much time with Wayne as possible. So I want to dive into coparenting with Wayne,” Tina said before she started crying. “I love Wayne so much and I just want him to be happy.”
Taketa was quick to point out the unspoken problem with Tina, adding, The issue with Tina and Wayne is that Tina never really had closure from their breakup. But to coparent, you need to get over your damn self. … I think Tina has never stopped being in love with Wayne and that concerns me because that makes it hard.”
Maile Doesn’t Back Down Against Tina
Before Maile was clued in on the situation, Tina discussed where she stood with Brady’s eldest child.
I feel really anxious because I love her so much. I think about her all the time. Now and the whole time. I always just wanted to never step on her toes so I kept a distance,” Tina shared through tears in a July 2024 episode. “I want her to have the time that she needs.”
Later in that same episode, Brady questioned whether Tina was still “a trigger” for Maile, to which she said, “I don’t want to be around her. But having a child doesn’t make you a good person.”
Maile told the cameras she didn’t trust Tina’s intentions.
“I basically lived with Dad and Tina and I just have a different perspective. I am in a very different possession than all of you. If I never want to see Tina again, I never actually have to,” she pointed out. “I think Tina does not live her life in complete honesty. I don’t want to see her.”
Maile continued: “I also feel like she’s going to use the situation to trap me into a conversation. Which I don’t feel like doing at all. And I will respond very negatively to that. I do not have a positive relationship with her for the past three years.”
According to Brady’s eldest, his ex “inserted herself” into their lives, which prevented Maile from forming a bond with her younger brother. Maile suggested meeting Val without Tina around — but that didn’t receive much support for her parents.
“She can go in the other room,” Maile said before Brady elaborated in his own confessional, saying, “[Tina and Val] are a package. I have to walk the line of being very respectful to Millie’s wishes and I also don’t want to be disrespectful to Tina.”
Tina ultimately showed her support for Maile meeting Val even if she wasn’t around. “I understand her. Whatever makes her feel comfortable,” Tina added during her debut on the show. “I don’t want to keep her from meeting him any longer.”
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Reconnecting With Tina
In a July 2024 episode, Brady said he took a “two month” break before making contact with Tina again.
“Tina and I were not really talking and that was an important boundary to keep because we want to have everything be about Val,” he explained. “Not about originally relationship or about fixing anything or fighting. None of that. We have to build our friendship to the point where we can be at ease with each other. We can deal with our feelings later.”
Brady subsequently urged Tina to go to therapy so they could work through their issues for their son. “I could not be in a relationship then because I needed to deal with me before I can actually be in a committed relationship,” he noted about still having “unresolved feelings” for Tina while “trying to talk about coparenting.”
