KISS bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons made a guest appearance as a judge on “Dancing With The Stars” during the “Hair Metal Night” episode on Tuesday evening, October 8. He joined fellow judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough as the 11 dance pairs took to the floor to perform to classic rock anthems.
The night kicked off with a lively opening dance to KISS‘s “Rock And Roll All Nite,” choreographed by Pasha Pashkov and featuring Joel Hoekstra, guitarist for WHITESNAKE and TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA.
The dancers showcased their skills with routines set to iconic hair metal tracks from the 1980s, including BON JOVI‘s “Livin’ On A Prayer,” “You Give Love A Bad Name,” AEROSMITH‘s “Walk This Way,” WARRANT‘s “Cherry Pie,” EUROPE‘s “The Final Countdown,” TWISTED SISTER‘s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” QUIET RIOT‘s “C*m On Feel The Noize,” POISON‘s “Nothin’ But A Good Time,” WHITESNAKE‘s “Here I Go Again,” and SCORPIONS‘ “Rock You Like A Hurricane.”
However, according to Forbes, Simmons faced backlash for his comments throughout the night, with some viewers describing him as “creepy” due to his sometimes superficial remarks focused on appearances. He gave Phaedra Parks a score of five, while the other judges awarded her sevens, prompting boos from the audience as Parks and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, reacted with disbelief. Simmons‘s score was particularly puzzling since he didn’t provide any negative feedback, praising the “bad-boy-and-the-bad-girl” dynamic of their performance. He also received boos after scoring Reginald VelJohnson a low mark for his cha cha routine to “I Wanna Rock” by TWISTED SISTER, which he performed with pro partner Emma Slater.
“Hey Reggie, you’ve got a beautiful woman right beside you who can twist it and turn it and knows how to move it and all that,” Simmons told VelJohnson prior to the tallies being announced. “But I want to tell you, as a guy that’s been on the stage for half a century around the world, I’m kind of a big deal, Reggie. It’s all in the attitude. And you’ve got something in that beautiful face. They love you.”
On X, one user slammed Simmons, writing: “hey gene! just wanna remind you that this is a dancing show, NOT a beauty contest. respectfully never come back pls and thank you #DWTS”. Another user wrote “phaedra getting a 5 but he gave brooks a 10… gene simmons count ur days. weird and gross comments all night #DWTS”.
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.