Tim Mcgraw greeted his daughter's date with a knife.

The 47-year-old country singer - who has daughters Gracie, 17, Maggie, 16, and 13-year-old Audrey with wife Faith Hill - is a protective dad but insists he didn't intentionally set out to intimidate the first young suitor to visit their house.

He said:''I happened to be cutting some meat up because I was cooking on the grill and I had a white apron on, so I had little chunks of meat on this white apron.

''I had a butcher knife when I answered the door and it wasn't on purpose, but it worked out well.''

The 'Tomorrowland' star and his wife insist on meeting their kids' potential boyfriends before they can go on dates.

He explained to 'Extra': ''[The guys have to come to the house, they have to meet me, they have to pick them up, they have to come inside, they have to talk to me, and they have to talk to their mom.''

Tim and Faith are close to their daughters but he admitted it can be surreal living in a house full of women.

Recalling how the family got ready for last week's TIME 100 gala, he said: ''I was hiding in my bedroom because it was full of dresses, make-up people and hair people, and my daughters were getting dressed.

''Finally, they got dressed and I knew I had about thirty minutes, so I went in and got my tux on, sat down and was doing make-up.

''My daughters were asking me questions like, 'Do these earrings look good?' and finally my wife said, 'Leave your father alone, he's getting his make-up on,' and I thought, 'That's something you don't hear every day.' ''