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Gottschalk is “from an old world”
© ZDF/Sascha Baumann
In November, Thomas Gottschalk will be conducting “Wetten,dass..?” one last time. He has to realize that “times have changed.”
For many viewers it will be the show event of November when Thomas Gottschalk, 73, performs one last time through “Wetten,dass..?” leads. At a talk with “Bild” The moderator now talks again about the reasons for his departure and about the fact that he comes from a different time.
Thomas Gottschalk’s generation is “finished”
At the beginning of August it was announced that Gottschalk was leaving the cult show. “The risk of being misunderstood is simply incredibly high for me,” says the moderator, who often says things in an unfiltered way. He now has to realize that “times have changed,” which is why he started with “Wetten, dass…?” stop. And: “I just have to accept that my generation is done for!”
Gottschalk is aware that he “perhaps doesn’t necessarily have the right mental attitudes from the past that I need to function today.” Two worlds met, explains the 73-year-old. He comes “from an old world and you all from Middle Earth or something.” And he’s afraid that at some point people will have to explain his guests to him. He suggests that he is more interested in Sophia Loren, 88, and not in younger German celebrities.
He chose similar words back in August on Instagram, shortly after his “Wetten, dass..?” exit became known. “The great days of Saturday evening entertainment” are over, he had written: “Before an author writes down the gags for me before the show and a plug is made in my ear, through which an editor constantly gives me ‘shitstorm warnings’ or explains to me, Whatever ‘celebrity’ is sitting next to me, I’ll leave the court.”
The last “Wetten, dass..?” edition
Originally “Bet, that…?” Discontinued in 2014. In November 2021, however, the show actually made a one-off comeback. With almost 14 million viewers, the return of the classic was so successful that ZDF planned further annual editions.
The last ‘Wetten, dass..?’ broadcast with Gottschalk is scheduled for November 25th. Michelle Hunziker, 46, will not be at his side as a co-host. The moderator said that he had invited her to his last edition. What will happen in the future with ‘Wetten, dass…?’ ZDF would like to decide after the broadcast.