I stand by every word I said,” Gene Simmons declared in response to criticism of remarks he made to Dancing With the Stars participants while serving as a guest judge on the show’s hair metal episode.
Gene Simmons is not taking back his remarks from Dancing With the Stars.
When the KISS rocker appeared on the ABC show’s hair metal-themed episode on October 9, he was criticized for concentrating more on the competitors’ appearances than their dance moves. In response, he declared, “I stand by every word I said.”
The Daily Mail quoted Gene as saying, “I had a great time,” on October 10. “The competitors were excellent. The performance was excellent.
Everyone had a great time,” the 75-year-old added, adding that he had “a lot of fun” as a guest judge.
However, not every spectator enjoyed his comments. Gene’s focus on the “hot” women participating on the show was criticized by several. One social media user accused the artist on X (previously Twitter) of “giving the energy of the gross uncle who corners you at the reunion.”
Another spectator continued, saying, “Gene Simmons’ eerie remarks about the female dancers are really draining the ballroom’s energy.”
In the show, Gene referred to professional dancer Witney Carson, who has dated NFL player Danny Amendola, as “one of the more beautiful women on the planet.”
“This is a brand new experience for me,” he said to both of them, “and it’s difficult to look at you and to figure out which one is more hot, hot, hot.”
In another instance, he claimed that Chandler Kinney’s jive performance with professional athlete Brandon Armstrong “fogged up my glasses.”
“Your beautiful face and the way you were into the emotion of it move me, not just with your gyrations and so on,” he said.
The 24-year-old handler subsequently disclosed that her first thought upon hearing Gene’s remark was “LOL.”
“Brandon has more feelings than I,” the Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin star told Us Weekly. Her dance partner acknowledged that Gene’s remarks made him think.
“I said, ‘Hold up now,'” “I have two little sisters,” said Brandon. I heard it. “Wait, wait, wait,” I said.