Silky singer Cee Lo Green, who fancies himself to be some sort of ladies man, says men shouldn’t be afraid to find themselves in the “friend zone” with women who they like.

In an interview with Q magazine, the 37-year-old “Lady Killer” said, “The friend zone. I’ve been there before, man. Well, being friends with a woman is as honest as you’ll ever be.”

Cee Lo, who divorced his wife in 2005, insisted that the “friend zone” is a good place to be, especially if you are trying to learn more about a woman.

“You can take advantage of that opportunity and get her to express herself about what her interests are, her do’s and don’ts and whether she’s involved with anyone else. That ought to really put things into perspective,” he explained.

He added that the “friend zone” is not the end of the road: “You can be completely candid as a friend so there are benefits to the friend zone and it’s not too late at all.”

Clearly, Cee Lo hasn’t a clue what the “friend zone” really means.

The honest truth is, the “friend zone” is where a woman quickly banishes a man whom she has no sexual interest in — not now or ever. If you find yourself in the friend zone, it means she thinks of you as a brother — not a lover. It is not a happy place to be, especially if you are really smitten by a cute female.

“When a man likes a woman, he naturally wants to express his feelings between the sheets. This is natural,” says Curt Smith of Askmen.com, the largest online forum for men.

Most women have a certain ‘type’ of man that she is seeking. She also has expectations to go with a laundry list of likes and dislikes that she mentally checks off during the first date. It usually takes one date, or less than an hour, for a woman to determine if a man fits her qualifications for sex, or whether he will be friend zoned.

Once a woman friend zones a man, he has virtually no hope of getting between the sheets with her. She has moved on to other potential bedroom conquests.

According to Askmen.com, the friend zone should be avoided at all costs:

Most women can get sex anywhere, any time and any way they want it. The problem for us guys is that women don’t want sex anywhere, any time and any way we want it. For women, sex comes bundled up with an onslaught of dizzying and complicated emotions. The result? It’s infinitely easier for women to place men into the category of “friends” rather than admit them as lovers. Source

Askmen.com advises men to avoid treating women like friends in the beginning if they want to avoid being friend zoned. A woman will quickly friend zone a man (or a lesbian) so she can have all the financial benefits of a relationship, but without the sex.

Some men, who lack self-confidence, don’t mind being friend zoned by women because they would rather have some contact than no contact at all. This appears to be what Cee Lo is describing.

Of course this strategy often fails because most women are one step ahead of men, and they know exactly what men are doing.

Despite what Steve Harvey says, a man cannot outsmart a woman when it comes to matters of the heart.