Crazy bets, stars, casual sayings and weird outfits: Thomas Gottschalk made “Wetten, dass ..?” to the cult show. In the dpa interview, he explains why he does not make television for his grandchildren.
Ten years after he left “Wetten, dass ..?” entertainer Thomas Gottschalk is the host once again on the famous ZDF couch.
He hosted 151 editions of what is probably Europe’s largest TV show, gathered world stars and betting candidates and thus achieved fabulous audience ratings. Falling audience numbers later marked the end of the “Wetten, dass ..?” Era.
40 years after the first edition, there is now a highly anticipated revival. Gottschalk has to lose weight in order to fit back into the stage outfit, as the entertainer of the German press agency revealed in an interview.
QUESTION: “Bet that ..?” returns to the stage: how do you prepare for the show? Has the outfit already been selected?
ANSWER: Of course, I am currently on the weight loss diet and am starving myself into it. But I’m not the type to think about on Thursday what to say on TV on Saturday of next week. My world is the live show. I react to what happens. And something exciting is about to happen. After all, I have bets on offer and no beds.
QUESTION: Have you ever known anything like nervousness or excitement?
ANSWER: Nope! Otherwise I would have become a teacher of German and history. On the way there I was quite a long way and turned off at the last moment.
QUESTION: Can you tell us something about the bets? Do you need an excavator?
ANSWER: “Bet that ..?” without an excavator is like the “Carmen Nebel Show” without Carmen Nebel. Of course, an excavator is coming.
QUESTION: You once talked about a nostalgia show. To what extent does “Wetten, dass ..?” what it was and what viewers know from before, and to what extent is it adapted to the zeitgeist?
ANSWER: After the presenter has difficulties with the zeitgeist, you will notice that in the show. Influencers have to stay outside. I have remained the one you “know from the past” and only that is what I can present to the audience. And not a new version that makes you look cool. That would be mega-cringe!
QUESTION: A family show of the caliber “Wetten, dass ..?” there is no longer in German TV. If the special edition is a success, can you imagine doing it again – maybe once a year?
ANSWER: My offer to ZDF was similar when I was about to say goodbye. You know what became of it.
QUESTION: Will your partner, your sons and grandchildren be there in Nuremberg – your grandchildren as perhaps the harshest critics?
ANSWER: I do the show in Nuremberg for TV viewers, my family always has me. I am, so to speak, included in the fees for them.
ABOUT THE PERSON: Thomas Gottschalk, born in Bamberg in 1951, is considered to be one of the last old-school show masters. With “Wetten, dass ..?” (1987-1992 and 1994-2011) he reached a huge audience. Since then, Gottschalk has appeared in various other formats – including “Das Supertalent”, “50 Years of the ZDF Hit Parade”, “Deutschland sucht den Superstar”, on the radio and in its own literary program.
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