Abby De La Rosa, who has 2 kids with Nick Cannon, says she was 'well aware' of what dating him would involve

• Abby De La Rosa said she understood Nick Cannon was polyamorous when they began dating.
• She and Cannon welcomed twin boys named Zillion and Zion together in 2021.

Abby De La Rosa said she knew Nick Cannon was not monogamous when they began dating in an interview on the "Lovers and Friends with Shan Boodram" podcast released Wednesday.

"I was very self-aware and well aware of what I was getting involved in," she told host Shan Boodram. "I've always known the type of lifestyle he lived," De La Rosa said, adding that she was also dating other partners when they began seeing each other.

She and Cannon welcomed twin boys named Zillion and Zion together in June 2021.

On Thursday, the day after De La Rosa's podcast appearance, Cannon announced that he'd welcomed his ninth child with model Lanisha Cole. The baby girl, named Onyx Ice Cole Cannon, is Cannon's first child with Cole.

In addition to newborn Onyx and his 1-year-old twins with De La Rosa, Cannon has five other living children with several other women: 11-year-old twins with his ex-wife, Mariah Carey; a 5-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter with model Brittany Bell; and a 6-week-old son with "Selling Sunset" star Bre Tiesi. He also had a son, named Zen, with model Alyssa Scott. Zen died from brain cancer in 2021, inspiring Cannon to start a pediatric health foundation in the 5-month-old's memory.

In August, Cannon also shared the news that he is expecting another child with Bell with a video of the couple posing together for a photoshoot.

"We all know about each other," De La Rosa told Boodram of Cannon's other co-parents.

De La Rosa asserted that she was not brainwashed or coerced into dating the entertainer and producer, as many have speculated on social media. "I find empowerment in my truth and in my reality," she said. She acknowledged that others might have a "distaste" for her choices, but that she does not agree with them.

"Whenever I get those comments like 'he's playing you,' I'm like, is he though?" she added.

"Being in a polyamorous situation does not mean you have low self-esteem," she said later on the podcast.

De La Rosa said she and Cannon were acquaintances for years before they began dating. She said she heard him discuss his lifestyle in the various interviews he did following his divorce from Carey.

Cannon has been vocal about being unlikely to remarry or enter a monogamous relationship after splitting from his ex-wife. "He does interview after interview where he says I can't do the standard monogamous relationship," she said.

"Our connection was very freeing, and it was very fun and open. I took that exactly for what it is," she said.

"I felt comfortable, I felt safe," she added later.

De La Rosa, who is currently pregnant with her third child, said she and Cannon do not use labels like "boyfriend," but she did refer to him as her "primary partner" and "children's father."

She described herself as being "monogamous by choice" for the moment but said she would be open to making other connections in the future and alternatively has not ruled out a return to exclusively monogamous relationships in the future. She also expects the romantic aspect of her relationship with Cannon to end eventually. "I just know in my heart of hearts that this isn't my forever person," she said of Cannon.

De La Rosa said she looks forward to her children learning how she and Cannon constructed their own family one day. "I'm excited for my kids to grow up and say mom and dad you did it your way," she said.

See the full conversation below.