will.i.am says women always put him in the "friend zone".

will.i.am

will.i.am

The 'It's My Birthday' hitmaker admits he finds it hard to get into a relationship because all the girls he knows don't want to "ruin" their friendship with him.

He said: "If you are close to mom, if you're nice, you listen more than you talk - for some reason the girls never want a relationship. The girls say, 'I never want to ruin this.'"

However, the 41-year-old musician is keen to have a family one day but admits he already feels as though he has adopted children in a "roundabout way" through his work with the local communities where he grew up.

He told The Telegraph magazine: "What do you mean by family? DNA swapping or do you mean encouragement, moral installing and opportunity providing? To me, that is just as much family as DNA swapping because I am a product of a DNA swap and I don't know who my dad is.

"There are a whole lot of babies that ain't got no parents. I am not quite ready to Angelina Jolie it yet, but I have kids that I have kinda adopted in a roundabout way."

When asked if he was ready for kids now, he added: "Not right now. I need to complete this dream first before I become selfish, having kids."