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Mark Sullivan/WireImage via Getty ImagesNick Cannon recently sat down with Variety for an interview where he discussed his relationship with ex-wife Mariah Carey.
The host of MTV’s Wild ’n Out and NBC’s The Masked Singer was always focused on building his own career, but says the marriage worked because he was comfortable with Mariah dominating the spotlight.
“I always used to say it worked so well because it was a healthy balance,” he explains. “I had no problem falling back. It was never a competition with me. It was like ‘I’ll turn mine off so she can turn hers on.’ I was comfortable in myself and who I was.”
Cannon’s marriage to the pop superstar in 2008 after a brief courtship shocked family and friends, but he insists that despite separating in 2014 — and divorcing two year later — communication was never a problem for them.
“I can’t ever remember us having arguments and there being negative energy of ‘This isn’t working’ and all of that stuff,” he says. “We had very sensible conversations.”
Additionally, Cannon’s ego wasn’t a factor in their eventual split.
“My ego outside the house was grand but in the house it was healthy. I was there to be in support of whatever she wanted to do,” he tells the industry trade. “I mean, it’s Mariah Carey. How am I supposed to be? She’s one of the most talented women to ever [be on] this planet. I can’t hold a candle to that woman.”
In spite of their divorce, Nick, 39, and Mariah, 50, still continue to co-parent their nine-year-old twins, daughter Monroe and son Moroccan.
By George Costantino
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