Lionel Richie speaks about teen daughter dating a much older man

Lionel Richie donned the classic protective-father hat when he was asked by US Weekly about his daughter's relationship. Not one to mince his words, he made sure to state exactly how far away from thrilled he is.

Also read: Scott Disick and Sofia Richie go official: Does Scott really get them young?

US Weekly asked Richie for his thoughts on his youngest daughter, Sophia, being all over the media lately for dating reality TV personality Scott Disick. The two have an age difference of 15 years, and after multiple rumours later, became Instagram official just a few days ago.

"Have I been in shock?" said Lionel. "I'm the dad, come on," the Hello singer added in an exclusive interview with US Weekly at the American Idol auditions in New York City on Wednesday, October 4. Sophia is Lionel's daughter with ex-wife Diane Alexander. 

When fronted with the question whether he was happy for the couple, he had quite the seemingly realistic answer to give. "I'm scared to death, are you kidding me?" quipped the Grammy-winning star.

Sophia, who is 19, started dating 34-year-old Scott in early September. They have been spotted lounging and vacationing together multiple times since June, but she took to squashing rumours about them dating, twice, on Twitter.

However, they had quite the elaborate congratulatory dinner to themselves, which they posted on Instagram, after the couple made their relationship official on the social networking site on September 23.

Scott took the plunge by sharing an intimate photo of them together in Miami. "Things became official over the past week while they were in New York City together," a source told US Weekly.

While the Lord Disick, or as he likes to be called, is no stranger to dating celebrities, Sophia has only been rumoured to be dating Justin Bieber in the past. Meanwhile, Scott happens to be the ex-husband of Kourtney Kardashian. They have three children together.

Scott was also linked to former Disney star Bella Thorne for a while and even though Kourtney is dating a French model much younger to herself, she thinks the Scott-Sophia affair is a "little weird".

"Kourtney thinks this fling with Sofia is a little weird, but nothing shocks her anymore," a source told US Weekly after Scott and Sophia became public. "Kourtney just wants Scott to be his old self. She shares three kids with him, so she'll always want the best for him and will always make sure he's happy."

Well, as young as Scott Disick seems to get them, we cannot marvel over Lionel Richie's dad-skills when it comes to his baby girl. In June, Sofia had spoken publicly about how her father tracks her location via her cellphone. Guess daddy knew best all along!