Gene Simmons thought Ed Balls was “flirting” with him on Tuesday’s episode of Good Morning Britain. The KISS legend, 76, appeared on the ITV morning show via video link from Los Angeles to discuss his legendary career, in which he has become known for his extravagant clothes and makeup.
The US rocker spoke about a time when he and his bandmates were valued only for their appearances before proving that they could still fill out stadiums without the whole aesthetic, even though they eventually went back to their roots.
When host Ed pointed out that Gene looked “better and more glamorous” without all his makeup, Gene joked: “I don’t know how to tell you this, I don’t wanna break your heart but I’m heterosexual,.” Ed joked: “That is the biggest disappointment of my Christmas, I am disappointed!”
Gene then asked Ed to be considerate of the viewers before revealing just how much he loves the UK and its culture. He added: “you sounded like you were flirting and this is morning television and I don’t want your viewers to be spitting out their coffee. I wanna tell you something, ever since we first visited your beautiful island, but we became Anglophiles.
“The home of the Beatles, when we first stepped off the jet in 1974 or 1975, I can’t tell you the emotions we felt. We grew up with A Hard Day’s Night, all that stuff and it changed our lives.
“It literally changed our lives so I’ve always been a massive, massive fan of England. It’s this magical island that’s almost like Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings. This magical island that gave the world the biggest bands. And don’t get rid of the monarch, keep the King, it’s cool!” As he wrapped up the interview, Ed vowed to continue to be a “groupie” who would “throw things on the stage” and made him promise to do a UK tour with his band next year.
Ed’s co-host Charlotte Hawkins was seen giggling along throughout the segment. She noted: “I think you put him off by saying you were gonna throw things at him,” before Ed replied: “I didn’t say what I was going to throw. I didn’t say my underwear!”
Viewers at home certainly picked up on the “awkward” elements of the interview. One wrote on X: “Normally you blur your background rather than your face. Gene has done it the other way round,” and another said: “This interviews awkward”
A third wrote: “#gmb omg that silence was unbearable,” and a fourth wrote: “Great quote for the day from Gene Simmons…. ‘keep busy and try to stay out of trouble.'”
Earlier this year, Gene caused outraged when he offered one fan per show the opportunity to live the rockstar life with him, including helping him set up for his gig and hanging out with his crew backstage for the sum of almost £10,000. Despite the fun bits of the day being levelled out with heavy work, Gene, 75, has the experience up for grabs for $12,495 (around £9,650), with payment plans available.
Gene seemed to give a nod to the work involved, labelling the “ultimate Gene Simmons experience” as being his “Personal Assistant & Band Roadie For The Day!!”
On X, formerly known as Twitter, fans were stunned by the price tag for the “ultimate” experience with Gene and his band. “Still have to buy a ticket to the show,” one eagle-eyed critic pointed out along with a string of laughing emojis, pointing out small print reading: “Tickets to the show are not included as they are sold through the individual venues.”
“Gene Simmons is as big (and bad) a joke as Donald Trump at this point. He’d have to pay me…and a hell of a lot more than £10k,” another person said, while a second agreed: “Wait…pay you…to work FOR you, Gene?? The maths aren’t mathing…like, at all.”
“Surely the person doing the job is the one who should be paid? What a plonker,” said a third, while another person raged: “Disgusting, he doesn’t need that money. Give it for free to a true fan and make their day.”
“Shouldn’t be be paying someone to be his roadie and PA for the day? Not like he’s short of a bob or two is it?” a fifth person asked, with a joker adding: “‘Hello this is Gene Simmons from KISS and I need you to send me $12k for you to be my roadie’ is like Instagram scam DM material.”
People were especially infuriated by Gene’s money-making scheme considering his jaw-dropping net worth, which is estimated to be around $400 million as of this year, according to Finance Monthly.
