Thomas Gottschalk: Now he is defending himself against “actor” accusations

Did Thomas Gottschalk (73) touch female guests inappropriately during his time as “Wetten, dass…?” presenter? His critics repeatedly accuse him of groping stars like Kylie Minogue (55) and Co. The entertainer can no longer hear these accusations. “I’m starting to get annoyed, I have to say honestly, by these constant accusations that I was the forefather of ‘touching’ on television,” explains the cult entertainer with clear words in the current edition of his podcast “Die Supernasen” (on RTL+ ) with colleague Mike Krüger (72).

He has never exceeded his abilities as a presenter in his life. When he sees women on “Wetten,dass..?” It was only to prevent them from running to the jet: “But I can’t blame myself for behaving immorally in front of millions of spectators.” He vigorously denies that he went overboard and groped women. He always behaved “charming and courteous”: “I wasn’t a toucher and I never want to have been!”

Thomas Gottschalk wrote “Wetten, dass…?” German television history

In September 1987, Gottschalk took over the ZDF live show “Wetten,dass..?” by inventor Frank Elstner (81). With a short break from 1992 to 1993, he moderated the show until December 2011. Around a year earlier, betting candidate Samuel Koch (36) had a serious accident, which is why the show was canceled. Since then, Koch has been paralyzed from the neck down. Gottschalk then announced his retirement. He celebrated his comeback in November 2022. The very last “Wetten,dass..?” show with Thomas Gottschalk took place in November 2023 and once again attracted over 12 million viewers to their TV sets.