Even Nick Cannon can’t help but poke fun at his populous brood.
While exclusively chatting with Page Six at the Fox Fall Press Day in Los Angeles earlier this month, the TV host compared “The Masked Singer” now entering its 12th season to him fathering 12 children.
“[Twelve seasons], right? It’s a dozen,” Cannon, who judges the hit reality singing competition series, began. “Got the same amount of kids!”
Cannon, 43, shares his 13-year-old twins, Moroccan and Monroe, with his ex-wife, Mariah Carey.
He’s also dad to Golden, 7, Powerful Queen, 3, and Rise, 1, with Brittany Bell; 3-year-old twins Zion and Zillion and Beautiful, 1, with Abby De La Rosa; Legendary, 2, with Bre Tiesi; Onyx, 2, with LaNisha Cole; and Halo, 1, with Alyssa Scott.
The “Wild ‘n Out” star and Scott were also parents to son Zen, who tragically died at just five months old in 2021 due to a brain tumor.
During his wide-ranging interview with Page Six, Cannon at one point opened up about what it’s been like co-parenting his now-teenage kids with Carey. Moroccan and Monroe, his eldest son and daughter, turned 13 on April 30.
“It’s the scariest thing in the world. My daughter, she’s wearing makeup now,” he said of Monroe. “She doesn’t wear it a lot, luckily, but it scared me. Like, we were getting ready to go, we’re in Malibu about to go to dinner, and I was like, ‘What is taking her so long?'”
“I go to her room and it literally looks like, just hair and makeup, just stuff all over,” he continued. “I was like, ‘Wow, you’re just like your mom.’ It’s beautiful to see, but scary all at the same time.”
Cannon also spoke to us about how his “genius” son Golden, whom he shares with Bell, is adjusting to entering the fourth grade at just seven years old.
“It’s so crazy … he is academically so far ahead, but he’s also an athlete. So that, actually, can hinder you if you’re smaller than everyone,” he shared. “He’s so great in basketball, and he’s actually playing up in basketball, but if he played against kids that were actually his age, he’d really be dominating.”
He added, “I’m going to continue to encourage him on his academics but I also know how much he loves sports. So, we’ll see. He’ll make the right decision. He’s a genius!”
As for the all-new season of “The Masked Singer,” Cannon teased that this is going to be “the most competitive season” yet as a whole new batch of contestants compete in disguise.
Costumes this season include: Buffalo, Leafsheep, Showbird, Woodpecker and Ship.
“When I say that, it’s because of the level of talent,” Cannon explained. “Like, everybody could win! It’s really at that level, where everyone is a great talent. A-level talent.”
Cannon told us this season will also feature “more clues than ever before,” with hints hidden in all-new places.
Plus, for the first time in the show’s history, the contestants will now have “Masked Ambassadors” – celebrity alums who will provide even more clues as to who is under each mask.
Singers competing this season will be introduced and endorsed by an “ambassador” they have a connection to, including Jewel (Season 6), Dick Van Dyke (Season 9), Ne-Yo (Season 10) and DeMarcus Ware (Season 11).
“I think [the clues] they’re, like, more in your face, because now we have our Ambassadors, who are, like, connected to the singers and they’re kinda giving clues as to how you know them,” he teased.
“They’re just like, right there, at least for me. So this might be one of the seasons where you’ll definitely know who’s behind the masks.”
Rita Ora, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg and Robin Thicke are all returning as panelists for Season 12 of “The Masked Singer,” premiering Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.