Nick Cannon stepping back from spotlight following death of infant son

Photo: Bang

Nick Cannon is taking a break from work following the death of his son.

The 41-year-old star announced the passing of his five-month-old son Zen on his own chat show on Tuesday, and Nick is reportedly planning to step away from the spotlight for a period of time.

A source explained that the show's "crew and studio audience were all shocked by the devastating news."

Speaking to 'Entertainment Tonight', the insider added that they were all "unaware of the tragic and extremely personal announcement Nick was going to make about the loss of his youngest child, Zen, during the live."

Zen died of a brain tumour, and Nick spoke emotionally about his passing on air.

He told his talk show audience: "Over the weekend I lost my youngest son to a condition called hydrocephalus that was pretty much a malignant, invasive mid-line brain tumour - brain cancer. It's tough."

Nick had Zen with model Alyssa Scott. The TV star - who has six children from other relationships - spent the weekend in California with his son, explaining that "not only did we get to see the sun rise, we got to see the sun set."

He shared: "This weekend I made an effort to spend the most quality time with Zen. We woke up on Sunday and went to the ocean with him and Alyssa, and then I had to fly back to New York for the show.

"I got a call on my way to the airport to head back to Zen."

Nick - who was visibly emotional during the show - admitted he was anxious about appearing on air so soon after his son's death.

He said: "I didn't know how I was going to handle today. But I wanted to grieve with my family."