Love Is Blind's Tyler Francis Says He Wants His Biological Kids to 'Have Their Family and Leave Me Alone'

Tyler Francis fixes everything.

In an interview with Laterras R. Whitfield at Dear Future Woman podcast, Tyler explained the status of his relationship with his biological children after it was revealed last season Love is blind that he was not involved in their lives.

Tyler, 34, claimed he was a “sperm donor” and not a father figure, but speculation began after photos surfaced of him and his children celebrating the holidays together. The mother of his children, Bri Thomas, later spoke out in a series of videos on her Instagram Stories, alleging that Tyler still owes child support and was an absentee father after he left for the Netflix show.

“I haven’t been active so it’s hard for people to say, ‘He was active, there are pictures, there are videos,'” he shared. “They are very few and far between. If I make a montage of all the things I’ve done in my life playing basketball, I can make it look like I’m a professional basketball player, absolutely, but if I take these pictures over the past five, six years, I can make it look like I’m very active, and they and work.”

Love is blindAshley from Ashley clarifies the timeline of finding out about Tyler’s kids and why he doesn’t have a ‘relationship’ with them now

Tyler said that after the birth of his first child, he took on the role of father because his friend Bri, who was in a lesbian relationship, broke up with her fiancee and wanted their son to have a dad.

She and Tyler then conceived twin girls, but when Bri got back into a relationship with his ex-fiancée, Tyler claimed she wanted him to take a step back. (PEOPLE has reached out to Bri for comment.)

“I want kids to have two parents, not two parents and a tiptoe dad who comes around just so you can tell he’s going to ‘Dads and Donuts,'” he explained. “That’s not what I want to do. I want to be a very active father in my children’s lives at all times, [but] don’t say you want a relationship and raise these kids with a woman until you do and you all fight and it’s like, ‘Well, I know my friend will come back.’ That’s not it.”

Love is blind: Tyler Says He ‘Owes No One But Ashley An Explanation’ During ‘Bombshell’ Season 7 Reunion (Exclusive)

Since being on the show, Tyler has said that Brie’s claims of being an absentee father are false because he never intended to be a father. Although he has taken on various roles in the children’s lives at times, he said he hopes to have a clean 10 as he builds the foundation of his marriage to Ashley Adionser.

“I want them to have their family and leave me alone,” he told Whitfield. “That’s honestly what I want because at this point, even if I thought I could have a relationship with them, I wouldn’t want to get attached to that family. Not children, per se, because again, innocent children, beautiful children. I’m just saying, but they come with everyone else.”

Tyler Francis.

Adam Rose/Netflix

“I don’t feel like a father, I feel like a celebrity nanny who you need money from,” he added later.

As for the criticism that he didn’t tell Ashley until the end of their engagement, Tyler said he regrets not disclosing the information to Love is blind pods However, the scene where he claimed the kids didn’t know what he looked like wasn’t their real argument, as he revealed at the reunion.

Love is blindTyler opens up about sperm donor situation, says his kids ‘didn’t sign up for this’

Tyler Francis and Ashley Adionser.

Clifton Prescod/Netflix

“I just wish I had told Ashley up front and let her make that decision,” he admitted. “She’s happy. I’m not holding her back. I’m not handcuffing her. She’s a very strong, intelligent woman who’s been making big decisions her whole life.”

“That [on-camera answer] was I trying to avoid it,” he continued. “And then when I said to avoid it, I realized we were filming, so that night, as soon as the cameras stopped, I said, ‘Okay.’ We had conversations off camera.”

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Love is blind season 7 is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix.

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Source: HIS Education