Pop Culture

Nick Cannon Says He Was 'Traumatized' By Losing Virginity at 13: 'I Cried'

The entertainer says he lost his virginity to a 16-year-old girl at a church lock-in.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 13: In this image released on October 2, 2024, Nick Cannon speaks on stage for The Storytellers Lab during the Creators House Remix at The Gathering Spot on September 13, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Julia Beverly/Getty Images for ABA

Nick Cannon says he had a traumatizing first-time sexual experience, which he recalled on the new episode of his podcast Nick Cannon @ Night.

Long before the comedian and television host became a father to 12 children by several different women, he says, he lost his virginity to a 16-year-old girl when he was 13.

Around the 1-minute, 30-second mark of the video below, the Wild ‘n Out creator said he was “too young” to have had sex at the time.

“I was traumatized. I cried. I felt like I let Jesus down,” Cannon explained. “‘Cause it happened at the church lock-in.”

Church lock-ins are occasions where youths are invited to spend the night at church while participating in worship activities and bonding with peers.

“And I was pressured into it. I was 13 and a half, and the girl was 16,” Cannon said about his first time, also explaining that he felt the need to prove that he was sexually experienced.

“And I wasn’t. So she laughed at me. They made fun of me … the whole gymnasium,” the entertainer added, saying that it was the night that “Cannon was born.”

“I vowed that no woman would ever laugh at me again,” he joked.

Cannon said that the 16-year-old was an “amazing girl” but had “older cousins” who “peer pressured” him into having sex.

“And then I probably didn't have sex again probably until I was like 16 or 17,” he said.

The comedian has previously discussed how religion has influenced his feelings about sex, once recalling he was celibate for two years with the intention to save himself for marriage.

"At one point I was attempting to be celibate because it was a very spiritual and religious thing when you grow up in a Christian setting and fornication is bad and all of that stuff," Cannon said on his podcast earlier this month.

"The goal was like, 'Oh, I've found a partner and we're going to withhold and not have sex until marriage.' And then she cheated on me."

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