Bill Kaulitz details queerphobic assaults he faced in his youth, while twin Tom describes a life of stable love with Heidi Klum

An interview with the Kaulitz twins in the German magazine Stern traces two sharply separated emotional landscapes. Bill Kaulitz, frontman of Tokio Hotel, describes an adolescence structured by queerphobic hostility in Saxony-Anhalt and an early romantic life in which love felt authentic only when it hurt. Tom Kaulitz, his twin brother, sits across from him narrating a relationship with Heidi Klum that he characterises as joyful, physically constant, and free of pain.

Bill Kaulitz's early trauma

Bill Kaulitz, 36, spoke in detail about physical attacks he experienced as a teenager. "Back then there were situations where my trousers were pulled down or I was groped in the swimming pool between the legs," he told Stern. The purpose, he explained, was to determine his biological sex. "It was almost normal for me, and out of shame I often didn't tell anyone," he said. "I still carry that pain inside me."

The singer attributes his present ability to discuss the events to the distance and self-confidence he has built in Los Angeles, his adopted home. "Because I have a different self-confidence, which allows me to classify my pain from back then. Maybe even to forget it." He acknowledged that his current fame and private transport shield him from everyday threats, adding, "But I know that that is not the reality for many others." His message to other queer people: "Be brave, dare to be yourself. Nothing is harder, but it's worth it."

A love shaped by impossibility

Alongside the physical assaults, Bill Kaulitz described an emotional pattern that stretched into adulthood: a conviction that love needed to involve suffering to be real. "I grew up like that," he said, recalling a childhood of falling for heterosexual friends who already had girlfriends. His brother Tom offered a wry explanation: "And you watched too many dramatic films." Bill conceded he had never conducted a straightforward, public relationship. "It was always hidden, a ducking away." He once guarded his privacy, but now the spotlight itself is the barrier, with many partners unwilling to step into it. Still, he said, "I still believe in love."

Tom's counterweight: a life with Heidi Klum

Tom Kaulitz, married to supermodel Heidi Klum since 2019 and in a relationship with her for several years prior, narrates an opposing experience. "I have never associated love with pain," he told Stern. "With Heidi and me it was beautiful from day one; I felt positive feelings with her right away." Friends, Bill chipped in, often say the couple acts as if they have only just met.

When Heidi Klum mentioned in a separate interview that the couple still does a lot of "training" together, Tom laughed and agreed that an enduring physical connection matters. "That definitely bonds us," he said. "It's just nice when you still have that attraction after so many years. That truly is the case with us." The professional distance between Germany and the United States, he added, strengthens rather than damages the relationship: "We're sad when we don't see each other. We really miss each other."

Two paths, one family

Bill ended the conversation with characteristic irony, joking that in ten years the press should congratulate him on his fantastic wedding to Travis Kelce on the Orient Express and ask about his relationship with Taylor Swift. Tom, for his part, simply hoped that he and Heidi Klum would still be in love.

The interview, published on 22 July 2026 in Stern, captures twins whose lives diverged in intimacy even as they continued to share a band and a family. Bill Kaulitz hopes his candour gives others courage. Tom, meanwhile, maps out a union that has withstood years without ever arriving at the pain his brother describes.