Showbusiness: Fresh in TV pension – Thomas Gottschalk becomes 75

Shortly before his milestone birthday, Thomas Gottschalk surprised the television: he retires. At least as far as the big Saturday evening entertainment is concerned. For decades, the entertainer shaped the German show business on the guest list with quick wasting, casual sayings, shrill outfits and international superstars. With the ZDF classic “Wetten, dass ..?” Gottschalk became a legend. This legend will be 75 years old this Sunday (May 18).

Around 50 years in the show business are behind him. Even if he always emphasized his love for the radio, it was television that catapulted Gottschalk into the A-League of the showmaster. On Bavarian Radio, he let his moderator talent as well as his sense of situation comedy and quick joke flash. In ZDF, he managed to gather millions of people in front of the television in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. “Bet that..?” was considered the campfire of the nation.

More than a steam chatterer

The show master proved that he was not just a steam chatterer. He showed himself humanly and obviously when dealing with betting candidates who were not used to the headlight that might showed nervousness or who were betting. He did not do the betting candidates, rather they were allowed to be a star for an evening. The prominence on the famous betting couch got her fat away, had to endure cheeky sayings and sometimes shallow chattery. Gottschalk saw himself as an entertainer.

His bright outfits, mostly funny as well as nonsensical bets and the superstars – just think of Michael Jackson’s appearance – regularly caused a conversation in Monday morning. In 2011, after the serious accident of the betting candidate Samuel Koch, Gottschalk put an end to “Wetten, dass ..?”. The show was used for generations to memory of cozy, world-childhood television evenings.

For Gottschalk, the TV success and thus the hype around his person was so great that he emigrated to California with his wife Thea and the two sons at the time. It was by no means every show that moderated Gottschalk, was a quota hit. With his late night show at RTL, he still set standards in the mid-1990s, formats such as “Gottschalk’s house party” at Sat.1 or the evening talk in the first have largely been forgotten. There was also criticism for his appearances in the “Supertalent” jury alongside Dieter Bohlen.

With his buddy Günther Jauch and moderator Barbara Schöneberger, he has been fooling himself through the RTL through Saturday evening. After the edition of “Because you don’t know what happens” on May 10th, he announced his show. After all, he was older than the Pope at the age of 75, said Gottschalk.

“Wetten, dass ..?”-Revival in front of almost 14.5 million viewers

He had not been able to imagine TV pension for his 70th birthday. On the contrary: the ZDF announced a comeback from “Wetten, dass ..?” for 2020. Because of the Corona pandemic, this took place a year later – and came to a acclaimed revival in front of almost 14.5 million viewers. With two other show editions 2022 and 2023, the criticism of Gottschalk became louder again.

The show master was increasingly angry with his sayings. Be it in his “Supernasen” podcast with Mike Krüger or in interviews, which has now also ended. When he said in the “Spiegel” in 2024: “I touched women on TV purely on business. Like an actor who kisses in the film because it is in the script. I don’t let that accuse myself of an attack”, the outrage was great. Even if Gottschalk added that he would no longer do it.

It seems that Gottschalk has resigned himself to the stronger protest. In his book “unfiltertered” published last autumn, he wrote that he was also made it an embarrassing forefather of the Herrenwitz. In this cause, he is guilty of some slips that would no longer slip out today.

“At my age you no longer have to be” cool “

At the time, he said to the German press agency: “Certain things no longer fit in time whether I see it or not does not matter, as an entertainer you are only committed to the taste of the public. If it changes, you have to change.” And he emphasized: “” I don’t regret “anything.” At your age you no longer have to be “cool”, says Gottschalk. “I was all my life.”

In private, Thomas Gottschalk found a late second happiness in love: with his wife Karina, he likes to show himself on the red carpet. The couple moved from Baden-Baden near Munich and said the dpa last autumn: “Nothing against Baden Baden, so it can be living excellently, but I am Bavarian and I will decide on my tour of the world in Munich.” His wife thinks very much, even though she lived in Baden-Baden for more than 30 years.