Ciara sparked a heated conversation about boundaries after saying men who keep “a lot” of female friends can be a red flag.

In an interview with The Zeze Millz Show, the singer described by the host as a “guru of relationships” for the episode, weighed in on hypothetical dating scenarios. “That’s a little concerning,” she said after being asked whether a man having “loads of female friends” should worry a partner.

She expanded her point by explaining the distinction between acquaintances and daily emotional contact, “I mean, I think that when men are in serious relationships, they don't have tons of female friends they talk to every day.” 

The conversation turned to a quick red flag ranking. Ciara first called the situation a 7, then admitted she’d “just say it's a 10,” clarifying that she can accept acquaintances, but not constant cross-gender contact.

"There's some guys that get along with girls really, like, well … A lot of my close friends are girls, but I do get along really well with guys. One of my closest friends since I was 14-years-old, his name is Jasper, and he's like one of my closest boys, and we don't talk every day, but we talk all the time. Russ knows him, like, it's all good,” she shared.

"So I think that the dynamics are important,” Ciara continued. “How about that? So it's hard for me to rate that because it depends on the situation, right? If I'm cool with the girls, and I know, I feel good, it's like, OK. Like, sometimes guys just get along really well with girls."

She also labeled another scenario — a partner who “only talks to you after a certain time” — as definite trouble. “Oh, that's a 10,” she said, calling late-night secrecy a clear red flag. 

Beyond the quick ratings, Ciara clarified that her views come from long-term partnership ideals. She told Millz that clarity about what you want matters and urged listeners to prepare themselves for love. “If you speak life into it, if you believe in it, you will will it to yourself,” she said.