Nick Cannon Praises Kel Mitchell for Helping Him With His Career

When Kel Mitchell stopped by Nick Cannon’s daytime talk show Tuesday, the multi-hyphenate made sure to use the opportunity to express his gratitude for what the Kenan & Kel star did over two decades ago that helped take his career to what it is today.  

Cannon started as the audience warm-up and writer on All That after being discovered while doing stand-up in Los Angeles at 16 years old. “You and Kenan gave me the opportunity to write episodes and stuff. I was the audience warm-up, just like Chad over there,” he recalled. “At 16, I would drive up in my mama’s old car. Kel would let me sleep in his apartment sometimes and hang out.”

Cannon joined the All That cast as a featured member for Season 5, which also happened to be the last for Kenan Thompson and Kel. “When I was finally asked to be on the show, I already had a record deal and a television deal with Will Smith’s company, so I was a little reluctant,” he previously told Complex. “But then I ended up doing All That because they were my family.”

“If you noticed, in my first season of the show, my credit said ‘featuring’ because I was already signed with Will Smith and I couldn’t officially say that I was a cast member,” Cannon explained.  

“You and Kenan just opened your doors to me and really saw me as family, man. If I haven’t said thank you enough, I’ll say it again,” Cannon told Kel during Tuesday’s episode. “You inspired a generation man, all of these kids on TikTok…you guys created comedy for young people.”