Pickler patches up relationship with troubled father

Singer Kellie Pickler has jumped to the defence of her troubled dad, insisting he's always been a "good father" despite his criminal past.

Clyde "Bo" Raymond Pickler, Jr. spent much of his daughter's childhood behind bars for various crimes, including a three-year stint in prison for aggravated battery and assault relating to a 2003 stabbing.

Pickler's mother Cynthia left him when the star was just two years old, but the American Idol favourite insists she doesn't harbour any hard feelings towards her dad for being a less-than-perfect parent, admitting they've recently patched up their relationship.

During an appearance on U.S. chat show The View on Wednesday (01Feb12), she said, "We all have our speed bumps that we hit in the road. I know that the media has kind of put him out there as this really, really bad person. Of course he's made bad choices but he is a good father. I spent a lot of my childhood with him, whenever he was not incarcerated.

"He spent a lot of time teaching me how to fend for myself. He taught me my life skills. I know how to survive and make something from nothing and he taught me how to do that.

"He's the person I call dad regardless; I'm a daddy's girl. I learned the hard way that it's so important to come to this place of forgiveness because, in the long run, hating anybody is only hurting yourself."