Setting the record straight. Following the announcement that he is expecting his eighth child, Nick Cannon opened up about his celibacy journey and the mission behind it.
“My therapist was one of the [people] who said that I should probably be celibate because I had shared that news, that Bre [Tiesi] was pregnant,” the Masked Singer host, 41, explained during a conversation with Angela Yee on his talk show on Monday, January 31. “That was the reason why I started my celibacy journey back then. … I was [celibate] because I was dealing with [this].”
Cannon continued: “I felt like my life was out of control. And honestly, the celibacy did help me through the journey of getting one with myself and dealing with this.”
Though the All That alum confessed that having so many children is “a challenge,” he’s not ruling out expanding his family even further in the future. “I just want to have as many children as I can … provide for and be a good father too,” Cannon said. “I want to be the best father that I could possibly be, but I’m not counting out ever having more children.”
The Wild ‘N Out host first became a father in 2011 when he welcomed twins Monroe and Moroccan with then-wife Mariah Carey. Cannon and Brittany Bell then welcomed son Golden, 4, and daughter Powerful, 13 months, in 2017 and 2020, respectively.
In June 2021, Abby De La Rosa gave birth to twins Zion and Zillion, 7 months, who she shares with the former Nickelodeon star. That same month, Cannon and Alyssa Scott had son Zen, who died from a brain tumor in December 2021.
“They’re all amazing women and they all have their own journeys and I don’t think that [just] because they all have children with me they should be forced to get along,” the Drumline star said when Yee, 46, asked him about his kids’ mothers. “My children all get along and they have all allowed my children to know and grow and see each other, and that’s all I ask.”
Though he is not in a relationship with any of them, Cannon has remained close to the mothers of all of his kids. In December 2021, he praised De La Rosa, 30, for being “amazing” in the wake of their son’s death. “[She’s] the strongest woman I’ve ever seen,” the California native said on his show at the time. “We never had an argument. She was emotional when she needed to be but always was the best mom and continues to be the best mom.”
Reflecting on their late child, he continued: “[Zen] was the most loving. We called him Z Chilling. He was always smiling. He had the most beautiful spirit.”
Cannon has previously spoken about how his celibacy journey has helped him be a better father and role model to his children. “I’m trying to be responsible,” the Love Don’t Cost A Thing star told Extra in November 2021. “I’m trying to lead by example because I am a father of many. I gotta show self-preservation, self-control, discipline. It’s those aspects.”