Gitta Saxx: The eternal “Playmate of the Century” turns 60

DJ, photographer, entrepreneur, author: Gitta Saxx (60), whose real name is Gitta Ilona Sack, is a real jack of all trades. But for most people she will forever remain the “Playmate of the century”. And although her appearance is always in focus, her new age doesn’t scare her, as she says. “I’m happy to be turning 60. Of course I’m in an industry that’s about eternal youth, but I feel good.” The most important thing is health and happiness anyway. “Happiness should not depend on anything else.”

She also has ambitious goals for her new phase of life. She would like to move permanently to Mallorca – she currently commutes between Berlin and the Spanish island – and implement creative projects there. For example as a photo artist, but also as a DJ. She likes to play well-known titles from the past and reinterpret them. “Having our own series of events on Mallorca would be a dream.”

Saxx has experienced that dreams can come true. Growing up in a small town in Baden-Württemberg, she had a specific career goal from an early age. “Some women know that they will have three children. But I always wanted to be a model – even though everyone always said you were too small, you would never be able to do it,” she emphasized in a 2018 “Playboy” interview. But she was undeterred and stubbornly pursued her goal. So she sent photos that her mother had taken of her to photographers and did photo sessions with friends. She actually discovered a “Playboy” scout. The shoot in 1988 opened her way into the industry.

In 1989, at the age of 24, she was named “Playmate of the Year.” She gave up her job as an optician in Stuttgart, moved to Munich and started her modeling career. The climax came in 2000: readers voted her “Playmate of the Century” – and Saxx essentially made herself immortal.

She has posed for the men’s magazine four times in total, most recently in 2018 when she was 53. “I was very excited this time, more nervous than before the other shoots. I’m over 50, so you have to do a few more sit-ups.” , she said. But she could definitely imagine more nude sessions, she explained in an interview with “t-online” in 2023: “Maybe I’ll break Pamela Anderson’s record, she’s still a few issues ahead of me.” The “Baywatch” icon (57) has already graced the cover 14 times.

But Gitta Saxx didn’t rest on her model campaigns. She starred in the RTL series “Unter uns” and was later seen in many other television productions, for example in 2009 in the dance show “Dancing Stars” in her then adopted home of Austria, in 2011 in “Ich bin ein Star – Get me here”. out!” and in 2021 on “Celebrity Big Brother”. She launched a biography, a cookbook and her own skin care line and has been touring the party scene as a DJ since 2002.

But behind the scenes, not everything was as rosy as it seemed. Gitta Saxx experienced a real nightmare for eight years. She was dependent on a guru, lost her money as a result and had to file for personal bankruptcy in 2016. “I put my life completely in this person’s hands,” she said looking back. She gave him her entire income until she was left with nothing. “Homelessness was my wake-up call.”

In an interview with the news agency spot on news, she spoke about the difficult time: “Having debts is one of the worst things that can happen to you in our society. Regardless of how they came about. If you admit that you have financial problems , you quickly become an outsider.” That was what she was most afraid of. It is difficult to admit “that you have failed in some respects.”

When she completed the debt process, a big burden was lifted from her shoulders. “Afterwards I felt like I was under a cloud for weeks. All of this had burdened me for eight years. You can’t even imagine the relief when something like this is suddenly over.” She then realized that she could manage to “rebuild her business”. She invests a lot of work and time so that “something like that” doesn’t happen to her again.