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.”
As executive producer of the All That revival, Mitchell explained that his philosophy with the show is about helping young, aspiring comedians to use this moment as a stepping stone for bigger and better things down the road.
“To bring All That back and then to produce the kids and see them go through what we went through, you know what I mean? I told them something that I wish was told to me. Like, this is just a stepping stone,” he said. “You know, you’re gonna have many more things happen in your career. This is just a job, alright? So stay focused and remember that you were special when you were born. This isn’t the thing that makes you special.”
Elsewhere during their chat, Cannon credited Kel for inspiring the naming of his children, starting with Mitchell’s firstborn child, Lyric, who is now 22 years old. “You named Lyric, Lyric, and I though that was such a dope name when we were kids,” he admitted. “I was like I wanna name my kids weird, strange, powerful names, like that. You got Lyric, you got Honor, you got Wisdom. I got Powerful, Golden, and I got that from you, man.”
Speaking of Kel and Kenan, the duo made an appearance on Wild ‘N Out back in 2018. If you missed it, you can check it out below.
