Nick Cannon says his charm has always been his secret weapon when it comes to dating.
On the Wednesday (November 5) episode of his Nick Cannon at Night podcast, the media mogul sat down with Bre Tiesi — one of the mothers of his children — and women’s health expert Dr. Kerryanne Perkins. During the show, a fan asked whether they would continue dating someone who wasn’t physically attracted to them.
Cannon advised listeners to “find what you are attracted to,” before opening up about his own experience with self-image growing up.
“I know as a man, all my life, I was a little scrawny kid. I never led with looks,” he shared. “I was little, so I had to have a big personality. I had to talk my way into getting a girl to like me.”
The Wild ’n Out creator explained that developing a strong sense of humor and confidence became his way of winning people over — a skill that’s clearly served him well over the years.
“’Cause [women] were like, ‘Oh, you’re going to be so cute when you get older.’ And I was like, ‘I’m older than you,’” Cannon recalled with a laugh. “So, in that sense, it was kind of my gift and my curse because it never really mattered to me what I looked like — I never thought I was this handsome individual anyway.”
He went on to explain how that mindset pushed him to develop other qualities. “I feel like it built up all these other attributes because I was like, ‘Look, I gotta keep up with the light-skinned, curly-haired dudes that get all the girls.’ So in that vibe, I think it made me a more well-rounded individual than some of the guys who were just relying on being pretty boys.”
That confidence clearly paid off — Cannon is now a father of twelve children with six different women, including pop legend Mariah Carey. Ironically, his reflections mirror his breakout role as Alvin Johnson in the 2003 teen comedy Love Don’t Cost a Thing, where his character paid a popular girl, played by Christina Milian, to date him in hopes of boosting his social status.
