Nick Cannon is opening up about the insecurities he faced while married to Mariah Carey.
During a recent appearance on the “Ray Daniels Presents” podcast, the comedian, 44, got candid about how the “pressure” of being married to the superstar put an emotional toll on him.
“I didn’t actually really care what the world thought,” Cannon said of how the public viewed his relationship. “But going to myself, that pressure of, ‘Who am I?’ I got married in my 20s to the biggest star in the world.”
The “Wild ’n Out” host and Carey, 55, tied the knot in 2008 and separated in 2014. The former pair, who share teen twins Moroccan and Monroe, finalized their divorce in 2016.
After they split, Cannon went on to welcome 10 children with five women: Abby De La Rosa, Lanisha Cole, Brittany Bell, Alyssa Scott and Bre Tiesi.
Noting Carey’s intense level of fame was in “a different stratosphere” from his own, he told host Daniels, “My trajectory was [down] here. I would lay up at night thinking, ‘Is this who I am? Am I Mariah’s man? Is that what my life is supposed to be?’”
Steve Granitz via Getty Images
Cannon admitted that being around the pop star made him get “really comfortable” with the lifestyle the five-time Grammy winner’s career provided for him.
“She got islands, and I was waking up at noon and people bringing me steaks on a platter. But I’m like, ‘This ain’t the hustle,’” he said.
But Cannon said his insecurities reached a new level after the pair welcomed their twins in 2011.
“And then when you have children … your manship is like, ‘Wait, I’m carrying a purse, the diaper bag, I’m standing on the corner.’ She’s rocking being all the alpha that she is.”
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After host Daniels suggested that Carey “deserves” that type of relationship, Cannon added, “I believe she needs a dude like that. I’m just not that dude.”
The “Fantasy” singer opened up about her failed marriage with Cannon in her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey.”
“Honestly, I think Nick and I could have worked it out between the two of us, but egos and emotions got inflamed (which can translate into many billable lawyer hours, and ultimately it did). It was tough,” Carey wrote at the time, Cosmopolitan reported.
Watch Cannon’s interview below.
English (US) ·