Bre Tiesi Discusses Unconventional Relationship With Nick Cannon: "He's Very Supportive"

Nick Cannon is a happy dad of 12 children and the TV personality is eager to make sure his many children don't get a rep for being just nepo babies. In a May 23 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Cannon admitted that he would never stop his kids from getting into entertainment, but also acknowledges "that's almost easy." He continued, "I want you to do something that's challenging, go outside of the box, so you can see effort and perseverance and those things, because they're a nepo baby. There's advantages to a kid. You're just like, 'Oh, this is natural.'"

That's why Cannon loves to see his kids try sports. "Because it has nothing to do with anything," he added. "It literally is however much work you put in, how hard you go, that's how you'll succeed in that space. They can learn all of those cool principles through having fun with their friends. I'm hoping for a few athletes. I hope I can be that dad on the sidelines somewhere rooting for them. But, again, if they want to be accountants or equestrians, I don't care."

With 12 children, Cannon would have a lot of games to keep track of if a significant amount of his kids joined a sports team. But how does Mariah Carey — his ex-wife and mother of his oldest children, twins Moroccan and Monroe — feel about his large brood? In the May 8 episode of "The Jason Lee Podcast," Cannon opened up about Carey's thoughts on him having so many children, summarizing the Queen of Christmas's view on the matter as "high frequency."

"She high frequency, man," Cannon shared. "She always asks me, 'You aight? You good? How you doing? You handling it all?'" He did admit that Carey has some boundaries, though. "She's like, 'As long as you don't bring none of that bullsh*t to the Manor of Carey.' Like, she lives in her own world. Nothing can infiltrate that stuff. When we talk daily, she's just checking on my spirit." Cannon continued, "People will create low frequency messages to try to say that there's something wrong, so she encourages me, she's like, 'Yo, let's make sure that we're on the same page every day so if some bullsh*t comes up, we know that it ain't true.'"

As for their twins, it seems they're on the same page as their mom. Cannon opened up about his sprawling family on the "Howie Mandel Does Stuff" podcast on April 19, revealing that his oldest two kids seem to appreciate their many siblings. "At this point, they enjoy it," he said. "They have fun and they're the oldest." Still, he isn't positive that their feelings will last. "But who knows where that will go when 16 hits?" Cannon added.

Cannon's two eldest children are 12 years old, and he said that they've been growing and maturing with age. "It's my first time having 12-year-olds and I have a set of them! And we're having real conversations," he said. "Because, you know, their lives are far from normal. Their mom is one of the biggest entertainers to ever live and their dad is me." Still, Cannon said, "They're so intelligent, they're so in tune with their own values." He's also started to "have challenging conversations" with them. "One thing they do know is that dad f*cks up," he added. "[They know] Dad makes mistakes."

Cannon also clarified that no new kids are on the way (for now), and he's working hard to spend time with all of his children. "I think I'm a man of abundance," he said. "Everything is challenging, but the fact that I get to see all my children in one day, and get to see them each and every day when I'm in town, even when I'm not in town, I take them with me. I love the challenge."

Cannon definitely has a lot on his plate when it comes to family, because in 2022, he essentially had his own personal baby boom. On July 14, 2022, Cannon cohosted ET with Nischelle Turner and teased that his family is only going to get bigger: "The stork is on the way." When Turner asked how many babies the stork would be bringing that year, Cannon initially played coy, but eventually said, "You would be safe to bet on three [more children] in 2022." It turned out that his comment wasn't a joke at all.

Since then, Cannon welcomed his daughter Beautiful Zeppelin with Abby De La Rosa on Nov. 11, 2022 (their third child together); son Legendary with model Bre Tiesi; daughter Onyx with model and photographer LaNisha Cole; and son Rise with model Brittany Bell (also their third together). On Dec. 14, 2022, Cannon and model Alyssa Scott welcomed their daughter, Halo Marie, into the world — making Cannon a father of 12.

The first of Cannon's additional children's births was announced in January 2022 when Cannon revealed on his now-canceled talk show that he and Tiesi were expecting their first child together. The "Selling Sunset" cast member gave birth to their son at home and announced his arrival on July 25 of that year via Instagram. Speaking to ET at Legendary's first birthday party in June 2023, Tiesi opened up about her unconventional relationship with Cannon. "So, here's the thing that I know everyone wants to argue with me about — but he makes his own schedule. He can show up every day, when he stops from work. He can come at night. So, he's here every week, and especially when he's home, he's here," Tiesi explained. "So, it's not a set schedule, we don't have to plan things, but he's very present and he's at anything and everything I ask him to be at. So, I'm very happy. He's very supportive."

However, she's not quite ready to have another baby just yet. "That's a hard one. I do and I don't. I think that for where I'm at in my career and my life right now, I just don't know how I could possibly manage another child," Tiesi said. "Part of me does want to give him another sibling, but he has a few of those, so I don't think he's necessarily missing out, but it's hard. I don't know."

On Aug. 24, 2022, Cannon revealed that he was also expecting another child with Bell and announced the birth of their son on Instagram on Sept. 23, 2022. But just a few days before that, Cole shared news on Instagram that she and Cannon welcomed their daughter to the world on Sept. 14, 2022. That November, Cannon and De La Rosa announced the birth of their daughter via Instagram. The pair already share toddler twins Zane and Zillion. Meanwhile, Scott announced that she was pregnant in October, and she shared the news of her birth in a video posted on Dec. 29, 2022.

In addition to his aforementioned children, Cannon has his two oldest twins with Carey. He also has another son and a daughter, Powerful and Golden, with Bell. In December 2021, Cannon's infant son Zen, whom he shared with Scott, died of a brain tumor.

As far as Cannon's many family announcements went, Cannon explained to ET cohost Turner that he wanted to let the mothers of his children break the news in their own time. "I allow the women in my life to kind of share their news on their own, because then it doesn't make it look like I'm trying to get publicity," he said. "When they're ready to speak on who and what and where, I support. . . . As we know, we should allow women to speak on their bodies, and men should say nothing!"

Additionally, Cannon has assured that all of his children are well taken care of. Following a Nov. 10, 2022, report from The Sun that noted the father of 12 pays nearly $3 million a year in child support, Cannon debunked the figure to The Neighborhood Talk, saying, "I definitely spend a lot more than that on my children annually." He added, "I don't plan to ever have to participate in the governmental system of [a] child" — suggesting that what he currently pays toward his children is not required by law.

Keep reading to learn more about all of Cannon's children.