Reports: Mariah Carey marries actor Nick Cannon (AP)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Nick Cannon is cast as Mariah Carey's lover in her new video -- but has the superstar diva given the young actor a considerably bigger role in real life?

According to several published reports, Carey, 38, married Cannon, 27, on Wednesday. Neither Carey's publicist nor Cannon's manager returned requests from The Associated Press for comment.

If the pair did indeed wed, it would be a whirlwind romance. Word that the two were seeing each other first surfaced in the past few weeks. Last Saturday, Carey was seen sporting a huge diamond ring on her finger at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of her movie, "Tennessee," in which she plays a waitress. Cannon was at her side at the party. Speculation swirled that the couple were engaged.

Latina.com was first to report that the two got married, at Carey's home in the Bahamas. Friday's New York Post also had the pair wed. People magazine on its Web site Friday quoted a clergyman, Bishop Clifford Petty of the National Church of God in the Caribbean, as saying he presided over the wedding.

E Online quoted a relative of Cannon's as saying that he called his family and confirmed the news.

"He called us and told us all about it. We are happy for him. If that is what he wants, then we are happy for him," Linda Cannon, identified simply as a family member, was quoted telling E.

People reported Friday that Carey had obtained a marriage license on the island of Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, where she has an estate.

Cannon has put out a rap album but is best known for his role in the movie "Drumline" and a Nickelodeon TV series (yes, Nickelodeon -- Cannon is 11 years Carey's junior). He's featured in Carey's upcoming video for "Bye Bye."

While Carey and Cannon (or is it the Cannons?) were playing coy, the famed jeweler Jacob & Co. was quick to publicize its apparent role in the reputed union with a news release touting the ring Cannon reportedly gave her.

The release described it as "crafted from platinum and features a square emerald cut fancy light pink diamond as the center stone surrounded by 58 intense pink diamonds and two half moon diamonds on each side.

"The total carat weight of the ring -- center stone is 10 carats -- is a jaw-dropping 17 carats with a value of $2.5 million."

Cannon does have experience with engagement rings. The actor, who has previously romanced singer Christina Milian and voluptuous reality star Kim Kardashian, last year gave a 15-carat stone to Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks as he proposed in grand fashion -- on the Jumbotron in New York's Times Square. Cameras were flashing as she said yes. They split just a few months later.

The Carey-Cannon match is already getting considerably more ink, leaving some to wonder whether it's a publicity stunt: After all, she's just released a No. 1 album ("EMC2" is on the top of the charts), and he has at least four movies due out this year.

But then again, Carey is one of the most successful artists in music, and hardly needs a marriage to get attention: She's already scored a No. 1 hit off the album with "Touch My Body."

This would be Cannon's first marriage but Carey's second. She famously wed top music executive Tommy Mottola in an extravagant wedding in 1993. They had a bitter divorce in 1998.

___

On the Net:

People magazine: http://www.people.com/