Terell Owens attempts to diffuse backlash from controversial comments he made on his new VHI reality show, The T.O. Show, regarding Black women! Check out excerpts from this Q&A with Essence.com! Let us kow what you think about it!

ESSENCE.COM: Meeting your father put an emotional toll on you. Has your relationship improved since the show?

TERRELL “T.O.” OWENS: Because he’s in Alabama and I’m all over the map, I try to keep n touch. He’s been in and out of the hospital for tests [blood-related health issues], but I keep in touch with him through my sisters. Again, I have a better understanding why he wasn’t there for me when I was growing up. It’s funny because my mom got me a Father’s Day card and that was one of the most precious moments. Obviously, I’m her son but she says I’d been like a father figure. I have kids and I don’t get to see them as much as I’d like, but I do express to them that I love them and I just try not to repeat the same mistakes my father made with me.

ESSENCE.COM: One thing that was unclear is why your father never came to visit you when he only lived across the street?

OWENS: My grandmother lived directly across the street from him and she raised me. I suppose he wasn’t comfortable having a child out of wedlock that he kept from his wife and kids. To my knowledge it wasn’t an easy acceptance for his wife; he was married when I was conceived. He has four girls, and I’m the third child with two older sisters and two younger sisters. At this point, I’m beyond the anger. When I was in junior high and high school and my first two or three years in college I accepted the fact that I was practically a grown man and that there was not much more he could do for me that I couldn’t already do for myself.

ESSENCE.COM: Speaking of women, a lot of sisters believe you don’t have an interest in Black women. Is that the case?

OWENS: Not at all. Black women I do love you. Honestly, if I were to reveal the Black females I’ve dated, the women who are accusing me of that would be surprised. I’ve had a lot of Black women hit me up on Twitter accusing me of not liking my own kind and all I have to say is that they are thinking too much. These women don’t know me like that to have something negative to say about the women I date. Perhaps I have a certain type of woman that I like and a preference and I shouldn’t be faulted for that. And for the record, I’m very familiar with headscarves because my grandmother wore them. I was just saying to Kiya that the women I date don’t wear them because it’s the truth. If I’m dating a Black woman and we hang out it doesn’t mean she’s sleeping over, so I might never see her in a headscarf. Again, I think some women are thinking too much about this because I love Black women.

What do you think about this?

More of the interview here Essence.com