Nick Cannon Says Trauma Led Him to Having 12 Kids: I Was ‘Being Careless’

Nick Cannon is feeling reflective as he looks back at his past relationships. In a new interview with The Breakfast Club, Cannon spoke about his decision to be a father of 12, and why his approach to fatherhood may have been born as a trauma response.

“It wasn’t like I was acting out. 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 said on the radio show. “Then, obviously, life happens as well, so it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go have 12 kids.’ It was more like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna just live life and have fun and whatever happens happens. I can handle it.’”

Now that Cannon is nearing 45 years old, he said that he could see himself having a different thought process and should have taken more “time to actually do the inner work.” However, he explained to co-host Charlamagne tha God that all his children were “made out of love” and during strong relationships, and that he’s “learning now” that having so many kids was a “response to trauma.”

“If I would have did the work [and] the healing after getting divorced, I probably would have took my time in a lot of other scenarios, and for whatever reason, I thought that was the answer a lot of times, like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna figure it out over here,’” he said. “Now, you’re leaving trauma every step of the way instead of fixing it from its origin.”

Cannon also spoke about his relationship with Mariah Carey after their divorce, and said he’s focused on keeping things “healthy.” He admitted he felt “like a complete failure” after the split, but added, “It was a tough decision, but I wouldn’t change it. It was the right decision.”