He said he struggled with a sense of guilt that kept him up at night.
**Content warning: This article contains references to child/infant loss.
Nick Cannon has confirmed he is indeed expecting his eighth child after photos surfaced of him hosting a gender reveal party over the weekend.
On Monday’s episode of his talk show, the 41-year-old shared how he and model Bre Tiesi held off on announcing their pregnancy in order to respect the recent passing of his five-month-old son, Zen.
Sharing photos from the party, Nick said he is in a “great space” and that he is excited to be welcoming a baby boy with Bre, 30, later this year. Their son will be Bre’s first child.
Nick, on the other hand, is already dad to 10-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe (who he shares with Mariah Carey), 4-year-old Golden and 1-year-old Powerful Queen (who he shares with model Brittany Bell), 7-month-old Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir (who he shares with DJ Abby De La Rosa).
He and model Alyssa Scott also shared little Zen, who sadly passed away on December 5 after being diagnosed with brain cancer last year.
In the episode, Nick revealed he knew about Tiesi’s pregnancy “for a while,” even prior to Zen’s tragic passing.
“Going through all of that, this was always in the back of my mind, like, ‘What is the right time? How do I share this?'” he said, claiming that the “guilt” of expecting one child while simultaneously grieving another kept him up at night.
“No one– we didn’t expect Zen to pass away… All of the news was so unexpected.”
The Masked Singer presenter explained that he and Bre wished to be respectful not just to Zen, but to his mum Alyssa.
“I wanted to definitely respect the grieving process with Alyssa, and Bre was respectful enough,” he continued. “She held off making our announcements and speaking on social media. She’s a very, you know, in the public eye type of person, but keeps her stuff private as well.
“It was just one of those things like, you know, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say when I was dealing with Zen, or to hold off.”
He added that even speaking about it now was unexpected, as they weren’t planning on breaking the news for another while.
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“That it came out yesterday, that wasn’t planned to talk about it. We wanted to, you know, hold on as long as we can, but it happened. We here and I’m with my family I get to discuss it, I get to be open,” he said.
Alyssa herself responded to the news on Instagram by thanking those who sent condolences over the past while and sharing she found it “painful” for her son to be “part of conversations that aren’t in alignment with his light and legacy”.
She thanked those who sent condolences and kind messages over the past few months and assured those concerned that she is “at peace”.
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During the segment, Nick also acknowledged social media comments that criticised him for fathering so many children in such a short space of time, but insisted he is a committed father who loves all his children equally.
If you have been affected by the details in this article, you can call the Irish Hospice Foundation‘s Bereavement Support Line on 1800807077 (Mon-Fri, 10am-1pm).
