TV personality Nick Cannon, famous for having 12 children with six different women, admitted on Monday that having so many kids was “careless” because he hadn’t dealt with his own trauma beforehand.

Cannon, who hosts “Masked Singer” and “Nick Cannon at Night,” shared his reflections on his fatherhood experiences during “The Breakfast Club” radio show and podcast, led by Charlamagne Tha God, Jess Hilarious, and DJ Envy.

When questioned about his choice to father many children, Cannon, also known for his work as a comedian, musician, and actor, explained that if he had understood in therapy how childhood trauma influences adult actions, he might have approached things differently.

“If I had done the necessary work and healing… I would likely have taken my time in many situations,” he remarked. “Things could have turned out differently.”

Cannon mentioned that his 2016 divorce from singer Mariah Carey, after eight years together, contributed to his personal trauma. Their first children, twins Monroe and Moroccan Scott, were born in 2011. He admitted to the show that he struggled following the separation.

“Much of it stemmed from the trauma I faced in handling the divorce,” he explained. “I felt like, ‘Oh, I can do anything now.’ Rather than healing and doing what I truly needed, I just plunged into things.”

However, he emphasized the importance of his children and expressed no regrets.

“Every child that I had was made out of love, and there were strong relationships,” Cannon said on the podcast, which originates at New York City hip-hop radio station Power 105.1.

Following the divorce of his own parents, he has said, Cannon was raised by his grandparents in publicly assisted housing in a Southeast San Diego neighborhood known for its “four corners of death” intersection where gangs collided. He has four younger brothers.

In June, he said on Bobbi Althoff’s “The Really Good Podcast” that coming from a big family made him want to have a big family. He also said it’s unlikely he’ll have more children.

“I think I’m done,” he said at the time.

After having twins with Carey, Cannon fathered 10 other children.

Model Brittany Bell shares son Golden Sagon, born in 2017; daughter Powerful Queen, born in 2020; and son Rise Messiah, born in 2022, with Cannon. Photographer LaNisha Cole shares daughter Onyx Ice Cole, born in 2022, with Cannon. DJ and radio personality Abby De La Rosa shares twins Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir, born in June 2021, and daughter Beautiful Zeppelin, born in 2022, with Cannon. Model Alyssa Scott shared son Zen, who died from a malignant brain tumor at 5 months old in 2021 with Cannon; the two also share daughter Halo Marie, born in late 2022. Real estate agent and model Bre Tiesi shares son Legendary Love, born in 2022, with Cannon.

“When I was 30, I didn’t have any kids,” Cannon said on “The Really Good Podcast.” “Then, by the time I was 40, I had 12.”

His success, including appearances in movies such as “Drumline” and television hits such as “Wild ‘N Out,” brought him an estimated $100 million a year in income by the 2020s, which he has said he now needs to provide for his children.

The money may have also clouded his judgment, he said on “The Breakfast Club.”

“It wasn’t like I was acting out,” he said. “It was more of being careless, being frivolous with my process, because I could do it, because I had the money.”

He said that at the time he was having children he thought he would “figure it out” along the way. Lately that includes family counseling sessions with some of his children, he said.

“I didn’t get a chance to slow down until I got in therapy,” Cannon said of his fatherhood journey. “But I was just like: ‘Look, I just got to keep making money. I got to stay hot, I got to stay funny and everything else will figure itself out.’ And I just didn’t do the work. So then I looked up, you know, 12 kids later, and I’m like, wow, I could have did things very differently.”