Nick Cannon Says Having 12 Kids Was Not Planned

Nick Cannon is opening up about the choices that shaped his very full life as a father of 12.

During a candid conversation on The Breakfast Club, the 44-year-old Masked Singer host said that his unconventional path to parenthood came less from planning and more from moving through life without slowing down. 

“It wasn’t like I was acting out,” Nick explained. “It was more of being careless, being frivolous with my process because I could do it, because I had the money [and] because I had the access to whoever and however I wanted to move.”

He admitted he never set out to have a dozen kids. “…it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go have 12 kids.’ It was more about like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna just live life and have fun and whatever happens happens. I can handle it,’” he said. 

Now, approaching 45, Nick admits that if he’d taken more time to do the “inner work” after his divorce, some choices may have looked different. “Now, you’re leaving trauma every step of the way instead of fixing it from its origin,” he reflected.

When asked if healing earlier might have meant fewer kids, Nick said he wasn’t sure. “…I’ve always said this, every child that I had was made out of love and there were strong relationships,” he explained.

Nick’s family includes twins Moroccan and Monroe with Mariah Carey, three children with Brittany Bell, three with Abby De La Rosa, one with Bre Tiesi, one with LaNisha Cole, and two with Alyssa Scott, including son Zen, who tragically passed away at five months old in 2021.

Back in March, Nick told PEOPLE he’s “pressing hold” on expanding his family for now. “…The way my bank account is set up, I’m going to press hold on this 12 for right now,” he joked, but left the door open for the future. “But. I was just speaking of three years from now [or] five years from now, who knows? I’m not against it.”

Nick also shared that fatherhood has reshaped his perspective on dating, especially with five daughters watching his example. In his words: “When you have five daughters and you’re like, ‘All right, I at least want to be able to be true and honest,’ but like I can’t live the same life that I’ve always been living and attempt to right my wrongs in that sense of where like hopefully my daughters learn from my mistakes and not date people like their dad.”

Through it all, Nick remains clear about what drives him: his love for children. “I never imagined that I would have 12 kids,” he said. “I love my life, and if it could keep going in the direction that it’s going, why not?”