The Geissens in an interview: “People think they are part of the family”

The Geissens are back: From January 6th, Carmen (59) and Robert Geiss (60) with their daughters Davina (21) and Shania (20) will be shaking up RTLzwei’s broadcast landscape again (every Monday at 8:15 p.m.). The 23rd season of their family’s own reality documentary “The Geissens – A Terribly Glamorous Family” is now running; the millionaires have been following along in their everyday lives for twelve years.

In the new episodes there is again a lot of drama around the globe, such as a raid on the family yacht Indigo Star – and the camera is always on it. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, the Geissens reveal why they still enjoy filming for television. They can’t imagine a life without the spotlight, but the reality stars don’t actually feel like they’re that famous…

Davina Geiss: There’s always something new because we’re getting older. There are a lot of changes, new places we’ve never been before – there’s always something exciting to show.

Carmen Geiss: We’ve been at RTLzwei for so long that I sometimes get comments that people think we own the station. (laughs) It’s funny what people write in the comments.

Shania Geiss: We can’t imagine without it, no. We were still very, very young when we started. For us, this is really our life and we don’t know it any other way.

Davina: For now I think it’s good because it’s fun and it’s something where we can work together with mom and dad. That’s just nice. But whether this is forever and ever…

Shania: I don’t think that will work anyway because at the end of the day people generally watch less and less TV. People are relying more on streaming to watch a show when they want. Classic television is declining more and more.

Davina: Yes, but for now we want to keep it going. But of course, once we have families ourselves, we have to think about what happens next. With Mom, she didn’t want to hold us as little babies in front of the camera.

Shania: It’s actually relatively easy because we don’t film every day. We also have separate lives. We went to school normally and met our friends there, just like everyone else. We also went to Starbucks or something after school – we did exactly what others do. Because we grew up in Monaco, we were never recognized.

Carmen: Nobody knows us there. There are so many different nationalities there that the Geissens don’t know. When there were cameras at children’s birthday parties in the past, the guests of course already noticed that it was for television. That was a great time. These are people who know us before we were famous and therefore still treat us the same. I keep saying this: I don’t think anyone even knows me.

Shania: No, we don’t feel our notoriety at all. We only feel that, if at all, when we come to Germany. Of course, Davina and I are changing a lot too. The viewers see the consequences a year later and after this year we look completely different again.

Davina: But now more people definitely recognize us than back then, as children and young people we weren’t recognized. But we don’t have as striking a face as Dad, for example.

Robert: Thank God! (laughs)

Davina: Of course his styling also does that. But we’re just girls walking around town in college jackets. We look like everyone else.

Davina: As soon as one person speaks to us, several people come over. But that’s not a bad thing. That’s our job, that’s why we’re known. We don’t have that every day. When we’re here in Germany, I actually think it’s okay and we’re happy too. But I’m glad that I have my own life in Monaco and there are no paparazzi or pushy people lurking around. This happens more often in Saint-Tropez because there are a lot of Germans there in the summer.

Carmen: But I have to say, our fans are great. Most are polite and very nice. They are very accommodating and ask nicely for a photo. And without fans there is no Geissens.

Shania: They often thank us for helping them. They say that they looked at us and then achieved something themselves – that of course makes us very, very proud. But there are also many who want to disrupt things, who are very invasive. What I also noticed is that because we’ve been filming our whole lives for almost 15 years, people really think they know us. When I recently had my wisdom tooth surgery, the doctor came and said, ‘It’s weird because I know you, but you don’t know me. I feel like I grew up with you. I know everything about you, but you don’t even know what my name is.’ It’s a bit strange, people really think they’re part of the family just because they watch every episode.