An on-and-off type of love! Though Nick Cannon’s relationship with Bre Tiesi turned heads when they announced they are expecting their first child together, their connection has been decades in the making.
“Him and I have had our on-and-off for years,” the model told E! News’ Daily Pop in March 2022, two months after revealing her pregnancy. “I’ve always come back.”
She continued: “I just respect and love who he is so much as a person, that when I thought about, ‘Do I want my son to be this person? Look at your characteristics, look at your personality, look at how you treat people.’ That’s what is so much more important to me than anything. And he treats me amazing, so that’s all I look at.”
The couple have remained close through the years, with Tiesi even appearing on several episodes of his Wild ’N Out series, before they announced they are expanding their family.
Cannon, who previously was photographed at Tiesi’s baby shower earlier that month, confirmed the paternity of her new bundle of joy during an episode of his eponymous Nick Cannon Show where he revealed they were in a “great space” as a couple.
“When a life comes into this world, it’s a celebration. I’m excited,” the Masked Singer host gushed at the time. “I’m happy. I’m gonna be the best dad I can possibly be.”
While the new arrival will be the real estate agent’s first child, Cannon is already a doting father of seven. He first became a father in 2011 when he and then-wife Mariah Carey welcomed twins Moroccan and Monroe. He also shares Golden and Powerful, born in 2017 and 2020, respectively, with Brittany Bell, and twins Zion and Zillion, born in June 2021, with Abby De La Rosa. Cannon and Alyssa Scott also welcomed a baby, son Zen, later that June. Nearly seven months later, Zen tragically died in December 2021 from a brain tumor.
Tiesi, for her part, is enthusiastic about her son joining Cannon’s expansive brood, noting she’s watched how he raises his other children.
“He’s great,” Tiesi — whose divorce from Johnny Manziel was finalized in November 2021 — exclusively told Us Weekly in April 2022. “I hear him on the phone [with his kids]. I hear stories. I hear stuff about the kids, and I know him very well. [I’ve been able] to watch him parent and [see] his patience and … his insight and how he explains things. He is just a very nurturing, loving human. Very constructive.”
She noted at the time that she has plenty of “love and respect” for Cannon’s relationships with his other children’s mothers.
“Our kids are siblings,” Tiesi explained. “However they decide to go moving forward with their dad, that’s their time and their intimate stuff. We’re just here to support and drop off or pick up or whatever they need. But [it’s] all love. We all are worried about our situation and our children and [doing] the best we can do. If anyone needs something, my door is always open.”
While Tiesi and the Drumline star are committed to raising their first child together, a baby boy, they are not in a traditional monogamous relationship.
“It’s not necessarily anything,” she explained during an appearance on the “Know For Sure” podcast in June 2022. “This is just us, this is our relationship and what you do outside of that is what you do outside of that. Everything is respectful, everything is honest. We don’t really define it.”
Scroll below for Cannon and Tiesi’s relationship timeline: