Lionel Richie may not be dancing on the ceiling over news of that his 19-year-old daughter Sofia Richie is dating Kourtney Kardashian’s 34-year-old ex Scott Disick, but he’s still standing by her no matter what.
The Grammy winner and American Idol host, 68, talked about his daughter’s new pairing in an interview with The Daily Telegraph published Saturday.
“She’s 19,” Lionel said. “When you’re 19 you know everything. Is it going to be for life? I don’t know. But for right now it’s just a phase and I’m going to stand real still in the corner, get me a good drink and not make too much noise.”
“Now I know what my parents meant when I came through the door with my Afro and my girlfriend and said ‘Dad, I’m in love’ and looked at me and said ‘Okay, we’re going to leave you alone for a minute and you’ll figure it out,’ ” Lionel joked. “My daughter is getting me back for my Afro days!”
Asked what Disick is like, Lionel had only nice things to say. “From what I met of him he’s a very nice guy,” he said.
But he admitted to not really knowing that much about Disick.
“When you hang around the reality world, who knows what you are really doing?” Lionel said. “This is a well-oiled machine, the Kardashian machine. I don’t really know what to think. I told Sofia I will have no opinion. I’ll continue to be my cheerful self and move on.”
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Sofia and Disick have been dating for nine months. They went public with their relationship in September and have since been photographed on dinner dates, on a romantic snow-capped New Year’s vacation and more. Sofia has even spent time with the three children he shares with Kardashian — sons Reign Aston, 3, and Mason Dash, 8, and daughter Penelope Scotland, 5½.
The model also sent her beau a sweet Valentine’s Day message on Instagram, captioning a black and white photo of the two cuddling one another. “Happy Valentines babe
,” she wrote.
“She’s been great for him,” a source told PEOPLE in November of Sofia. “She’s made a big impact on his life and hasn’t partied at all since they met.”
Added the source, “His friends adore her and nobody notices the age difference. She is very mature, she grew up in Hollywood and has always been in older situations. They seem really happy.”
RELATED VIDEO: Sofia Richie Cuddles Up with Her Adorable New Puppy
Elsewhere in his chat with The Daily Telegraph, Lionel said that he’s happy his kids didn’t follow in his musical footsteps.
“ has an excellent voice, but to be honest I’m so happy she didn’t pursue singing,” he said. “The competition is so fierce. Not that modeling is not equally hard. You’re getting the stories from Hollywood now through the #MeToo movement — it’s a very tough business. And imagine being Frank Sinatra Jr.; you’re constantly being compared to your parents.”
“I’m happy went into TV,” he said. “That’s not my wheelhouse at all, and Sofia and my son Miles are also in fashion. It makes very good sense they stay away from Dad.”