Günther Jauch will be 65 years old on July 13th. The presenter has been celebrated as a TV face for decades. But how did he get on TV?
Günther Jauch celebrates his birthday on July 13th. The moderator of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” turns 65 years old. He has been running the RTL quiz show since 1999. However, Jauch did not begin his career in front of the TV cameras.
Journalism school before law studies
Günther Jauch, born in Münster in 1956, grew up mainly in Berlin-Lichterfelde. He graduated from high school in Berlin-Steglitz and began studying law in his hometown. But at the same time he pursued another career aspiration: in 1975 he broke off his studies and switched to the journalism school in Munich. Two years later he graduated and began working as a sports presenter for the Bavarian Radio. From 1983 to 1985 he was a radio correspondent in Bonn.
Radio moderation next to Thomas Gottschalk
Jauch broke off another course of study that had started at the same time (politics and modern history) due to his other work. From 1985 he became the voice of a radio show with a well-known colleague: until 1989 he hosted the “B3 radio show” with Thomas Gottschalk (71). Gottschalk took over the afternoon, Jauch followed from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thomas Gottschalk hung up and talked, Günther Jauch informed. The duo became known through the taunts during their improvised handovers.
Jump to television and his regular channel RTL
At the age of 29, Jauch switched to TV. He initially worked as a reporter and moderator for SDR, BR and ZDF. In the latter, he moderated the show “Na see!” From 1987 to 1989. As early as 1988 he first ran “the current sport studio”. In 1990 he switched to RTL – from then on it became the face of the private broadcaster.
Development to the station favorite
From 1990 until his departure in January 2011, Günther Jauch ran the TV magazine “stern TV” with great success. He welcomed well-known guests such as Angela Merkel (66), Gerhard Schröder (77), Celine Dion (53), Sylvester Stallone (75), David Copperfield (64) and Claudia Schiffer (50). Jauch’s great legacy was taken over by Steffen Hallaschka (49). In 1999, Jauch took on the role of moderator for “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” added. From then on, at the latest, he was one of the most popular moderators in the country.
With wit and enthusiasm, he still leads through the quiz show to this day. In an interview with n-tv in 2019, he revealed how he assesses his future as a “WWM” presenter: “The next anniversary would be in five years, then I’m slowly approaching 70. I can hardly imagine that, but I just let myself be surprised. ” Jauch was able to celebrate an anniversary at least recently: RTL organized a surprise show for him at 1,500. Broadcast.
RTL Jauch has also been used in sports reporting. From January 2000 to December 2006 he moderated competitions in ski jumping together with Dieter Thoma (51). Jauch completed an excursion into the political talk from 2011 to 2015: He hosted his own Sunday evening talk show on Das Erste.
From moderator to candidate
Günther Jauch also likes to change sides: Since 2009 he has been proving in “5 gegen Jauch” that he has amassed a considerable amount of general knowledge through his many years at “WWM”. He is challenged by a team of five candidates who can answer the questions together, while Jauch has to do it alone. From July 31, 2021, three new episodes will be shown on Saturdays.
In “Die 2 – Gottschalk & Jauch gegen alle” he dueled together with Gottschalk against candidates from 2013 to 2017. Since 2018 there has been the successor “Because they don’t know what’s happening”, in which the two moderators take turns with Barbara Schöneberger (47) against celebrities. In 2021 he had to fit for three issues: Jauch announced at the beginning of April that he had been infected with the corona virus and could not be there due to the quarantine obligation. He kept the public up to date on his illness by video switching on the show. The absence was something special for workhorse Günther Jauch: It was the first time in 31 years that he was absent from a moderation job due to illness.
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