Years ago, ex-footballer Thorsten Legat stirred up the jungle on “I’m a Star – Get Me Out of Here.” Now, David Odonkor, a former Bundesliga star, has moved into the camp again. Will he also rock the jungle – or will he fail like Ansgar Brinkmann and leave early?
“It’s strange what kind of creatures there are.” In January 2016, Thorsten Legat, the former Bundesliga professional from the picturesque Ruhr area, took a critical look around the distant Australian jungle. And then he actually had enough again. And that wasn’t due to any of the critters crawling around on the floor, but rather to his fellow candidates – who he then had to work on brilliantly over the next 14 days.
Because one thing was already certain for the former player from clubs like FC Schalke 04 or Werder Bremen: “I’m not afraid of anything or anyone. If so, then the animals in the jungle have to be afraid of Thorsten Legat.”
The idea of bringing former footballers into the camp has actually existed since the beginning of the show “I’m a Star – Get Me Out of Here”. But the concept rarely worked out as well as in the case of the Bochum native, who electrified the press even before he moved in and said in a promotionally effective way: “I want to know where a Thorsten Legat has limits. That’s why I took part in this project.”
Jimmy Hartwig stood in front of the jungle on the precipice
Yesterday is now Friday the new season started and there is another former national player there. David Odonkor is the man whom the Germans associate with the summer fairy tale of the 2006 World Cup like no other. Back on June 14th in the DFB team’s second preliminary round game against Poland it was 0-0 for a long time. And then, in the 91st minute of the game, at the moment when no one had expected it anymore, it was supposed to happen.
Anyone who was there back then will never forget this explosion of emotions. Oliver Neuville netted a cross from the right and center. 1-0 for Germany. Complete strangers were in each other’s arms back then. And the man who gave that one, unforgettable cross to the goalscorer Oliver Neuville now wants to prove himself in the Australian jungle over the next few days and weeks.
It is not yet known whether David Odonkor, who recently signed a contract as a coach with the regional league team DJK Blau-Weiß Mintard, has done himself a favor with this commitment. He probably won’t admit that it was the money that appealed to him. Just like a former German champion twenty years ago.
Because when Jimmy Hartwig went to the Australian TV camp in 2004, the jungle was the last straw in his real documentary soap on the brink. At this point, Hartwig had already lived several lives behind him. He was a pop singer, campaigned for the CDU, praised condoms and, in 1992, even wanted to solve the financial problems of people in old age. Hartwig advertised in the “Hamburger Abendblatt”: “I offer you the chance of an unusual partnership”, looking for people who knew about pension issues and who should work for him: “I recently attended seminars in Vienna and Lüneburg. I want to help “That people don’t have to get by on a pension of 1,300 marks later.”
“White Brazilian” didn’t just disappoint Legat
Almost ten years later, the former professional from Hamburger SV, 1. FC Köln and several other clubs was himself bankrupt. Hartwig went to the TV camp because he needed the money. But he told the “Tagesspiegel” afterwards: “When you have your back against the wall, you just take what you get. Today I feel disgusted with myself for that.” One can only wish David Odonkor all the best – and that Thorsten Legat finally finds a worthy successor as the greatest show talent among the ex-footballers who appeared on the show “I’m a Star – Get Me Out of Here”.
Legat had already had great hope that someone would come along who could breathe new life into his motto – “Jungle camp is not a beauty farm. You have to work there and have eggs in your pocket” – in a completely new way. Back in 2018, many TV viewers expected a lot from the “white Brazilian” Ansgar Brinkmann – but he didn’t just disappoint Thorsten Legat.
Brinkmann had said long before: “I would also like to go to the jungle camp. RTL wouldn’t even have to threaten me financially. I’ve already proven that I don’t really care about money. That’s just the fact that I’m crazy enough for that “Sure. I would like to go to the jungle camp because I want to destroy everything in the camp. I would make an Easter fire out of the campfire and after eight hours I would strangle the first of the other candidates.”
Legat and Brinkmann almost came to blows
But that didn’t happen in the 12th season of the show. Brinkmann left the camp early and voluntarily after ten days. Maybe it was because shortly after his arrival was announced, a prominent ex-player of his sent him a WhatsApp message. It was none other than Jürgen Klopp: “World class, my friend, I watch every episode!” And this news actually made an impression on Brinkmann, because just a short time later he wrote from his vacation before the broadcast: “Kloppo has RTL in Liverpool and watches every episode. I really feel like I’m being watched now. Maybe I should Stay in Mauritius and be Out Of Order. Dear RTL team, I wouldn’t bet on the fact that I’m flying out of Frankfurt to Australia in January – maybe I’ll go to the cinema too!”
But then everything actually started quite hopefully, because Ansgar Brinkmann surprised the roommates with a very special utensil when he moved in, as fellow candidate Natascha Ochsenknecht later said: “I will never forget the looks from the other camp residents when they discovered that Ansgar was a “I brought a skateboard with me into the jungle. The idea was so stupid that it was good again. The board was actually used. Not for skating, of course, but as a mini table for everything, as a seat and as a tray.” But then there wasn’t much left. Especially if you apply the Thorsten Legat standard.
And it was exactly him – who returned home from the Australian jungle in third place in 2016 (“I don’t think I’m leaving the camp here as a normal person”) – of course had something to complain about about Brinkmann’s early retirement: “We had a bit of a fight after the jungle camp. RTL got me asked to comment on Ansgar’s voluntary move out. When I say something, it doesn’t matter whether it’s about my best friend or my family: If someone has done shit, then I’ll honestly say my opinion.”
Ansgar Brinkmann didn’t think that was a good thing and countered: “I told Thorsten Legat through the media: ‘Thorsten, be careful, we can both settle this fairly, we’ll meet in the ring and then I’ll hit you in the mouth.'” But that didn’t happen in the end because both of them – be careful! – met at David Odonkor’s farewell game and got the matter resolved. Maybe it’s a good omen for “Speedy” Odonkor that the two old jungle veterans spoke to him of all people – even if he himself hasn’t attracted attention with anything but press-worthy sayings. But who knows? His cross in the 91st minute on June 14, 2006 came almost out of nowhere for all football fans in Germany. And this flank is still unforgettable today.