Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Gene Simmons


Gene Simmons
After 28 years together and never ending rumors of his wandering eye, Shannon Tweed finally confronts Gene Simmons on Tuesday night's premiere of "Family Jewels."

When the Kiss bassist is photographed leaving a restaurant with two women -- when he should have been attending a family function -- his long-suffering partner has had enough and snaps.

Tweed admits she turned a blind eye for years while the un-married couple's two children, Nick and Sophie, were living at home.

But now that the youngest, Sophie, has left for college, she's taking Simmons to task -- and the cameras will capture it all for its sixth season.

"Oh, we're going to show lots of warts this year," Tweed tells TV Guide. "There were a lot of things that I kept to myself until they did go to college. A lot of mothers do that. A lot of couples stay together for the children. I think it's an obligation that parents have... You made a commitment, you had children, you should see it through."

But not everyone is happy the family is airing their dirty laundry.

Sophie, a freshman studying computer engineering, not only "hates" the cameras, she adds that it was difficult to juggle her parents' troubles and her schoolwork.

"I missed a lot of classes to come back and make sure everything was OK," she says.

Her big brother meanwhile didn't mind working through family issues on TV. "I like having a paying job," says Nick, a budding rock star who hopes to follow in his father's footsteps.

Tweed actually thinks "Family Jewels" has helped heal many of their emotional wounds. "It's kind of like therapy out in the open," she says. "By the time you're done, you're pretty much over your problems."

The sixth season of "Family Jewels" premieres Tuesday night on A&E at 10 p.m.

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