Nick Cannon is reflecting on why he became a father of 12 and what it taught him about his own growth. During an interview with “The Breakfast Club,” he unpacked the mindset that drove him in those years. “It wasn’t like I was acting out. It was more of being careless, being frivolous with my process because I could do it, because I had the money [and] because I had the access to whoever and however I wanted to move,” he said. “Then, obviously, life happens as well, so it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go have 12 kids.’ It was more like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna just live life and have fun and whatever happens, happens. I can handle it.’”

Cannon now realizes he could have focused more on healing rather than just living in the moment. “If I would have did the work [and] the healing after getting divorced, I probably would have took my time in a lot of other scenarios,” he said. “Now, you’re leaving trauma every step of the way instead of fixing it from its origin.”

His family is famously large and includes children with multiple partners. He shares twins Moroccan and Monroe with Mariah Carey; Golden, Rise, and Powerful with Brittany Bell; twins Zion and Zillion and daughter Beautiful with Abby De La Rosa; son Legendary with Bre Tiesi; daughter Onyx with LaNisha Cole; and daughter Halo with Alyssa Scott, with whom he also had a son, Zen, who tragically passed away at five months old in 2021.

While he’s holding off on having more children right now, Cannon isn’t closing the door forever. “I’m having so much fun in this space right now, and the way my bank account is set up, I’m going to press hold on this 12 for right now,” he told PEOPLE. “But I was just speaking of three years from now [or] five years from now, who knows? I’m not against it.”

“There was a point where I was like, 'Nah, I’m done.' And then I was like, 'Who am I to say that?' I never imagined that I would have 12 kids. I love children. I love my life. And if it could keep going in the direction it’s going, why not?”