Nick Cannon has defended his choice to go back to work so soon after his five-month-old son's death.
The 41-year-old presenter announced his son Zen had died on Sunday following a battle with brain cancer as he opened The Nick Cannon Show on Tuesday.
In a monologue for Wednesday's episode of the talk show, the host thanked his fans for their outpouring of support while addressing criticism he received for going back to work instead of spending time with Zen's mother Alyssa Scott.
"A lot of people keep asking me like, 'Man why are you even at work?' Especially my family members, 'Boy you need to go sit down somewhere, you got too many jobs already. Allow yourself to just be yourself,'" he said. "And I appreciate that, all of that advice, and I know it comes from a place of care. But to me, this isn't work, this is love."
He continued, "People are wondering how (Alyssa) is doing. She is making it five minutes at a time, you know what I mean? You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only option. We here. We smiling through the pain. If I wasn't here, I'd be probably be in bed, curled up. But you guys give me a reason to get up and get out of bed each and every day."
The former America's Got Talent host previously revealed that Zen had recently been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, or a build-up of fluid in the brain, as well as a malignant tumour, and had undergone surgery, but he took a turn for the worse around Thanksgiving last month.
"Ultimately, it was cancer in the brain and the tumour began to grow a lot faster. And so, we knew that time was...," he said, before sharing that he held his son for "the last time" on Sunday.
