It was one of those wild, unforgettable nights for Gene Simmons. The rock icon made a guest appearance as a judge on Hair Metal Night of “Dancing With the Stars” on Tuesday, and his scoring and comments left fans fuming. The 75-year-old started off by telling the first performers of the night, Danny Amendola and partner Witney Carson, he couldn’t decide who was more “hot hot hot” between them. Simmons began his judging on a high note, awarding the athlete, 38, and pro dancer, 30, a nine, while the other judges gave them sevens.
Later in the show, he attempted to give Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko the first 10 of the season but had already locked in a nine, rendering the score invalid. Savchenko, 41, exclusively told the Post, “We just say this is the first ten of the season, and that was us.” The supermodel agreed, adding, “We made history this season — the first ten. We’re still counting it.”
As the night progressed, Simmons continued to shock the performers with his low scores. “Bachelorette” star Jenn Tran earned eights from Derek Hough, Carrie Anne Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli, but the KISS vocalist and bass player quipped “don’t hate me” before giving her a seven. “He messed it all up, Gene, goddammit,” Tran’s partner Sasha Farber joked to The Post. “Not even the scores, but the commentary was crazy,” the reality TV star remarked.
Phaedra Parks also faced the brunt of Simmons’s scoring. She received a five from him, while her dance earned her sevens from the remaining three judges. The crowd booed as the “RHOA” star, 50, and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, 38, looked shocked. They continued to shake their heads as Chandler Kinney covered her mouth in disbelief before mouthing, “What’s going on?” Co-host Julianne Hough also seemed stunned by Simmon’s scoring after he told the duo that he was “a big fan of the bad boy and the bad girl” dynamic of their routine.
Throughout the night, the rockstar praised Reginald VelJohnson’s partner Emma Slater as “a beautiful woman” and said that Kinney “fogged up my glasses” and that she “moved me, not just with your gyrations and such but with your beautiful face.” After the show, Kinney and partner Brandon Armstrong commented on Simmons’s unconventional judging. “It was like trying to follow a nat in a hurricane,” Armstrong explained to The Post. “It just was like I could not keep track of what he was saying, but good on him.” “It was entertaining for sure,” the “Pretty Little Liars” alum said. “I couldn’t predict what he was going to say next, so if that’s not good TV, I don’t know what is.”
Viewers shared similar sentiments, with one user writing on X, “@officialdwts don’t ever have @genesimmons guest judge ever again. Sexist comments…giving Phaedra a 5?! Totally uncalled for. I hope you apologized Witney as well.” Another person commented, “@officialdwts What was up with Gene Simmons scoring being all over the place? Stick with guest judges that understand the dancing process and the scoring process. So looking forward to @MarkBallas guest judging next week.” Another critic shared, “We went from a qualified guest judge like Rosie Perez to an unhinged mess like Gene Simmons #DWTS,” while another said, “It needs to be said that Gene Simmons was the worst guest judge on DWTS last night. Inappropriate and icky……………”