Mike Manning once worried that being honest about his sexuality could put the future he wanted beyond his reach. Today, that future includes a husband, Emmy-winning work and a television role built around a loving gay family.
In a new interview published by The Advocate on October 30, the actor reflects on the distance between the uncertainty of his early television years and the life he has built since.
Manning came out as bisexual during his time on MTV’s The Real World: D.C.. That distinction matters when telling his story: playing a gay man and being married to a man do not change how he has described his own sexuality.
The man he wanted to marry
Offscreen, Manning has been married to Nick Tocco since 2017. In an earlier Metro Weekly interview, he explained his decision to marry with a particularly tender answer.
“Because I couldn’t see my life without this person.”
Manning recalled that marriage had not always seemed like something he would choose. Meeting Nick changed that. The couple celebrated their wedding at a friend’s home in Bel Air, surrounded by family and friends.
He also spoke warmly about the reassurance of having a partner beside him through the unpredictable parts of his working life. Behind the red carpets and television credits was something deeply familiar: the comfort of knowing someone had his back.
A family on daytime television
On CBS’s Beyond the Gates, Manning plays Bradley “Smitty” Smith, whose husband is Congressman Martin Richardson, played by Brandon Claybon. Together, the characters are raising two adopted children.
For Manning, that role carries personal meaning. In his 2025 Out100 profile, he described portraying a queer husband and father as something he could not have imagined when he first came out publicly.
The role gives viewers a gay family with relationships and responsibilities that extend beyond a coming-out storyline. Their marriage and parenting are part of the continuing life of the show.
Manning’s career also stretches well beyond Smitty. His official CBS biography identifies him as a two-time Daytime Emmy-winning actor, writer and producer, with credits including The Bay, Days of Our Lives, Teen Wolf and Disney’s Cloud 9.
A future worth protecting
The new interview also carries a warning: Manning believes LGBTQ+ progress remains vulnerable and requires continued advocacy.
His story offers a hopeful perspective on what can become possible without suggesting that honesty automatically brings professional success. The achievement is personal as well as public: he has built a marriage and a career that his younger self once struggled to picture.
📷 CBS / @mikemanning
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