Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Gene Simmons “would have gone down the rabbit hole into darkness” if he had not met his wife Shannon Tweed.
The KISS rocker has been married to the 69-year-old model-and-actress since 2011, but they have been together since 1983.
In an interview with 26-year-old actor Adam Lupis, shared to YouTube on Thursday (12.03.26), Gene, 76, said: “Without Shannon, I would have gone down the rabbit hole into darkness, I know for a fact.
“She’s a more moral and wise person than I am.”
The Beth hitmaker made the comment about Shannon as he reflected on his family’s fly-on-the-wall reality TV show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, which ran on the A+E network from 2006 until 2012.
Adam asked Gene if he hoped the show, which also starred their children, writer Nick, 37, and singer Sophie, 33, would show a different side to the singer and stress the importance of appreciating family.
Gene replied: “There was no intention, no plan. The show lasted eight years and 167 episodes.
“But, I was so proud of Nick and Sophie, our two kids, and Shannon, of course …
“And so I’m proud of the family. There was an opportunity to do a reality show, so I went, ‘Do you know what? It’s been enough years of being on stage and pushing the fantasy, why don’t I show them some reality?’
“And so the show developed pretty naturally. Our personalities came out just the way it is, and that’s why it lasted.”
Shannon was a model for Playboy magazine in the 1980s, and she met Gene at the Playboy Mansion through the publication’s late founder-and-editor-in-chief Hugh Hefner – whom she briefly dated.
And in 2011, Shannon and Gene eventually said “I do” in front of nearly 400 guests – including Hugh – at the lavish Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, after 28 years together.
In September 2023, Gene insisted he would never leave her if she cheated on him.
The star told the Guardian newspaper: “Would I ever leave if Shannon dilly-dallied like I had? No. Absolutely not, that will never happen.
“This will be the only marriage I ever have because my definition of marriage isn’t based on that stuff, it’s based on somebody who, in a real sense, will give their life for you.
“We’ve proved it in creating two new, wonderful, amazing forms of life; our kids. Nobody else can do that. At the end of the day, my life will be judged by Shannon, and Nick and Sophie.”
