NEWSNick Cannon Admits He Was Insecure Being Known as Ex Mariah Carey's 'Man' During Their Marriage: 'I'm Just Not That Dude'
Nick Canon and Mariah Carey tied the knot in 2008, separated in 2014 and finalized their divorce in 2016.
Mariah Carey is the Christmas princess — and Nick Cannon didn't want to only be known as her prince.
During a recent guest appearance on the "Ray Daniels Presents" podcast, the Masked Singer host opened up about insecurities he felt throughout his marriage to the "All I Want for Christmas Is You" hitmaker, which lasted from 2008 until the exes separated in 2014 and finalized their divorce two years later.
Nick Cannon recently opened up about insecurities he felt during his marriage with Mariah Carey.
"I didn’t actually really care what the world thought," Cannon explained regarding the public's perception of his high-profile relationship. "But going to myself, that pressure of, ‘Who am I?’ I got married in my 20s to the biggest star in the world."
"My trajectory was [down] here and she’s already in a different stratosphere. 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?'" he confessed.
Nick Cannon first met Mariah Carey at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards.
While there was some doubts about whether he was in the right marriage, Cannon admitted he "got really comfortable" with the luxurious lifestyle Carey surrounded him with.
"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 continued. "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."
Nick Cannon shares twins Moroccan and Monroe, 13, with his ex-wife, Mariah Carey.
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Cannon and Carey welcomed twins Moroccan and Monroe, 13, in 2011. The Wild 'N Out host has since welcomed 10 additional children with five other baby mamas.
Although Cannon mentioned his ex-wife "needs a dude" who is comfortable seemingly standing in Carey's shadow, the comedian declared: "I’m just not that dude."
The Drumline star said for a short while he tried to be the man he thought Carey needed, but ultimately felt like a "participant" in her world and not the "main character" he prides himself to be.
"I was getting mad at myself. It was like muscle atrophy. I had a gut. It was like, I’m not being the dude God put me on this earth to be," Cannon explained.
Nick Cannon welcomed 10 additional children after his divorce from Mariah Carey.
Still, the dad-of-12 had a hard time walking away.
"The love kept me there. I was like, 'You need a support system. You need somebody that don’t want you for your money, that’s sincere, somebody that’s willing to build a family and raise some amazing kids together,'" Cannon shared of his thoughts at the time. "That was my goal. But then there was something constantly in me."
Following their split roughly a decade ago, Cannon, 44 and Carey, 55, remained amicable co-parents and still seem civil to this day.
In the "It's a Wrap" singer's memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, which was released in 2020, the mom-of-two admitted: "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)."
