Gene Simmons was booed on Dancing with the Stars after giving Reginald VelJohnson a 5—but the crowd had already begun booing when Derek Hough revealed his own 5. The moment happened during Hair Metal Night on October 8, 2024, when VelJohnson and partner Emma Slater performed a cha-cha to Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock.”
Why was Gene Simmons booed on DWTS?
The audience objected to the low score for VelJohnson and Slater’s dance. Contemporary coverage reported that the booing began after Hough showed his 5, then grew louder when guest judge Simmons revealed the same score. Simmons did not trigger the crowd’s first reaction, though his matching mark drew a stronger one.
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Before the scores, Simmons had praised VelJohnson, telling him, “you’ve got something in that beautiful face. They love you,” as quoted by Yahoo Entertainment. The compliment and the score were separate: Simmons still gave the dance a 5.
What scores did the judges give?
The four judges’ marks added up to 21 out of 40, according to Sporting News.
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#1 Best Overall
| Judge | Score |
|---|---|
| Carrie Ann Inaba | 6 |
| Derek Hough | 5 |
| Gene Simmons | 5 |
| Bruno Tonioli | 5 |
| Total | 21 out of 40 |
What happened to VelJohnson and Slater?
VelJohnson and Slater were eliminated that night, as was Eric Roberts. The elimination should not be attributed to Simmons’s score alone: the episode’s result combined judges’ scores with audience votes, as Sporting News explained in its results coverage.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What was the episode context?
Simmons appeared as a guest judge for the October 8, 2024 Hair Metal Night episode of season 33. TheWrap’s same-night recap also reported an exchange after Simmons told the audience to settle down because “this is a family show.” Co-host Alfonso Ribeiro replied, “Oh, now you care,” according to TheWrap.
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The booing story is based on contemporaneous entertainment coverage of the broadcast; the reported sequence is clear even though the sources cited here are recaps rather than a verified episode transcript.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
- Language: English
- Region: Region 1 U.S. and Canada only
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Run Time: 51 minutes
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