Nick Cannon Reflects on Having 12 Kids and the Emotional Trauma Behind It

Nick Cannon is speaking openly about the emotional pain that influenced his choices as a father.

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In a revealing sit-down on “The Breakfast Club,” the television host admitted that his decision to have 12 children was connected to trauma he carried after his divorce from Mariah Carey.

He explained that, at the time, his actions were not carefully considered. Instead, he admitted to moving through life without thinking about the consequences.

“I’m learning that immediately, and it wasn’t like I was acting out,” Cannon said. “It was more of being careless, being frivolous with my process, because I could do it, because I had the money, because I had the access to whoever and however I wanted to move.”

Cannon added that he never set out with the intention of having a dozen children.

“So it wasn’t like, ‘Well, I’m gonna go have 12 kids.’ It was more about, like, ‘Yo, I’mma just live life and have fun and whatever happens, happens. I can handle it,” he explained.

immediately nearing 45, Cannon reflected on how much his perspective has changed with maturity. He admitted that taking time to heal might have led him to make different choices.

“If I would have thought the process through a little bit more and took time to actually do the inner work, things might’ve been a little different in certain scenarios,” he shared.

The discussion turned to whether he believed he would still have 12 children if he had addressed his trauma earlier. Co-host Loren Lorosa posed the question, and Cannon admitted he was unsure.

“I don’t know … I’ve always said this: Every child that I had was made out of love and they was strong relationships,” he responded. “If I would’ve did the work and the healing after getting divorced, I probably would’ve took my time in a lot of other scenarios. And for whatever reason, I thought that was the answer a lot of times. It was like, ‘Oh, I’mma figure it out over here. I’mma figure it out over here,’ opposed to leaving trauma every step of the way, instead of fixing it from its origin and then being able to present itself. But concepts like monogamy, I still feel the same way.”

While Cannon emphasized that each of his children was born from love and meaningful relationships, he acknowledged that unresolved pain heavily influenced his decisions.