Nick Cannon claims that the trauma of his divorce caused him to father twelve children

Nick Cannon should have taken more time to recover from the “trauma” of his divorce, but instead he was “careless” and became the father of twelve children.

The TV personality was married to singer Mariah Carey from 2008 to 2016, and the two of them have twins, Moroccan and Monroe, who are 14 years old. He also became the father of 10 other children from previous relationships, and he has now talked openly about the reasons behind his large family, acknowledging that he never meant to have so many children.

He clarified, “It wasn’t like I was acting out,” when he spoke on The Breakfast Club radio show. I was more reckless and frivolous in my approach because I could do it, I had the money, and I could move whoever and however I wanted.

Afterward, life occurs, of course, so it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m going to have twelve kids.’ More like, “Hey, I’m just going to live my life, have fun, and whatever happens, happens.” “I can manage it.”

Cannon’s children include his twins with Carey, Golden, eight, Powerful, four, and Rise, two, with Brittany Bell; the twins Zillion and Zion, three, and Beautiful, two, with Abby De La Rosa; Legendary, two, with Bre Tiesi; Onyx, two, with LaNisha Cole; and Halo, two, with Alyssa Scott, the mother of his late son Zen, who passed away at the age of five months in 2021.

After splitting with Carey, Cannon insisted that he needed to perform more “inner work” to mend his wounds because he was wounded.

At nearly forty-five, he continued, “I could look back and say, ‘Yeah, if I had given the process a little more consideration and taken the time to genuinely do the inner work. The situation might have been slightly different in other cases.

“I am not sure … As I’ve always stated, all of my children were the result of solid relationships and affection.

“I probably would have taken my time in many other situations if I had done the work [and] the healing after getting divorced, and for whatever reason I often believed that to be the answer, like: ‘Oh, I’m gonna figure it out over here.'”

“Instead of addressing the root cause of trauma, you’re ignoring it at every turn.”

Although Cannon has acknowledged that he will “press hold” on having any more children for the time being, he is “not against” growing his family in the future.

“I’m not sure [about] having more kids,” he told PEOPLE. I am telling the truth. My bank account is currently set up in such a way that I’m having so much fun in this space that I’m going to put this 12 on hold for the time being.

But. I was merely referring to three years from now—or perhaps five years from now. I’m not opposed to it.