Zen died at five months old.
Nick Cannon is praying for strength in the wake of a devastating loss. The 41-year-old TV personality appeared on Thursday's episode of the Today show, and revealed how he's getting by following the death of his and Alyssa Scott's son, Zen, who died earlier this month after a battle with brain cancer. He was five months old.
"You pray for miracles," Cannon told Hoda Kotb. "Coming from a faith-based background, it's not for the miracle to do something that's unknown to us, but it's really for the things that we can find comfort in. So I asked for the miracle of strength to be able to be here today, and that I find that peace that surpasses all understanding."
As he works to get through each day, Cannon said he's heeding his therapist's advice to take things "five minutes at a time."
"I'm optimistic in finding the purpose through all of the pain," he said. "So I'm attempting to smile, I'm attempting to be the high-frequency individual that I've set out to be, but along the way there's definitely some curves in the journey, so I'm taking it five minutes at a time."
Cannon first revealed his son's death on an episode of his eponymous talk show earlier this month. When he shared the tragic news, Cannon said, there was "a lot of fear involved."
"I'm so used to being upbeat and outspoken and even vulnerable at times where I'll talk about anything. But this was probably the most delicate and most precious thing I've ever had to talk about, and I didn't know how to talk about it," he admitted. "I never imagined having to be in this scenario."
"As much as there was such an outpouring of love, there was a lot fear, there was obviously some hurt," Cannon added. "I wanted to be the protector as well for the rest of my family, Alyssa and all these people. It's a very delicate thing even talking about this. That's coming from a person who's used to talking to people each and every day, live here on television. It's scary."
As for how Scott's doing, Cannon, who recently got a tattoo in tribute to his late son, praised the model for being "strong."
"She's definitely one of the strongest individuals I've known," he said. "As a father it's painful, but for a mother who carried the beautiful child for nine months and nurtured and cared for him every single day through this process, there were so many medicines, so many trips to the hospital and the doctor... All we can do is kind of connect in prayer. I attempt to be there for her, but I watch her strength and I'm in awe daily."
After Cannon shared the news of his son's death, a source told ET that he's focused on supporting Scott amid this challenging time.
"His friends are rallying around him and just want to be there for him because they know this type of pain will impact him for the rest of his life," the source said. "Those closest to him are reaching out to offer their help and give him their condolences. Nick appreciates the support but at the moment he just wants to be there for Zen's mother."
"Nick's entire life has become only family and work," the source continued. "He wants nothing more than to honor the time he had with Zen and to focus on being there for Alyssa. He feels lucky to have had the little time he did with his son, but even more so a sense of relief Zen is in peace. Nick is incredibly spiritual and that has helped to guide him through this but he knows the true healing will take time."
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