Gene Simmons recalled how his avoidance of alcohol provided him with the opportunity to “swoop” on girls when he went to parties as a teenager.

The Kiss star said he’d never been attracted to drinking – but because other boys his age and older were, he was able to indulge his attraction to women.

“Well, the word ‘no’ is in the dictionary,” Simmons told Backstage Pass in a recent interview (video below). “I’ve never seen anybody drunk be witty or intelligent. Have you? And people who are high sound like aliens. And people who smoke stink like ashtrays.”

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He continued: “I can understand if smoking or drinking or getting high would make you smarter, richer, made your shmeckel bigger, made you more attractive — all those things that we all wish we had.… But nothing happens, really.”

He argued a drunk person was more likely to “throw up on the shoes your girlfriend just bought” than “be witty,” adding: “The next day your head will hurt; and if you drink enough, your shmeckel is not gonna work. So I don’t get it.”

Simmons went on to recall being invited to parties when he was around 13 or 14, although he was younger than most of the others. “I was always bigger, so they’d invite me,” he said. “They’d think I was older. And like a vulture on the side, I’d just wait for the guys to get drunk, and then just swoop in and take any girl I wanted.”

How Gene Simmons Escaped His Womanizing Ways

In a separate recent interview, Simmons explained how he’d escaped his womanizing ways and settling down with Shannon Tweed, his wife of 13 years and partner of 41 years.

“I had this epiphany: I’m probably going to die alone and a miserable old fuck,” he said. “You are lucky if you find, as they say, your soulmate. You never think about those things when you’re younger, when you’re busy – bang, bang, bang, bang, bang – because it doesn’t mean anything and you’re having a lot of fun.

“That’s fine. But what does it mean? Do you miss those people? You never miss anybody. You just say, ‘That was good then. Tomorrow’s another day. I’ll have another salad, a doughnut and I’ll have that piece of ass over there.’”

Watch Gene Simmons’ Interview

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Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening