Laura Wontorra and Steffen Henssler show themselves as a well-rehearsed team in the cooking show “Grill den Henssler”. But what about behind the scenes? The sympathetic moderator revealed this to GALA.
Laura Wontorra, 32, claims of herself that she cannot cook. “My husband always says that I make a great salad dressing,” admits the presenter of “Grill den Henssler” with a laugh in the GALA interview. The fact that the wife of soccer player Simon Zoller, 30, does not do so well in the kitchen does not seem to have a negative impact on her relationship with professional chef Steffen Henssler, 49 – on the contrary …
Laura Wontorra and Steffen Henssler have found a “great level” both professionally and personally
Gala: You and Steffen Henssler are now a well-rehearsed, dynamic duo in front of the camera. What have you been able to learn from him – culinary but also personally?
Laura Wontorra: When it comes to cooking, I’ve definitely learned something from him, namely to relax a bit behind the stove, then it’ll be fine. As the Cologne resident would say: ‘Et would still have jot jejange!’ In this regard, Steffen is just cool and relaxed and if nothing works, it will just turn into something Asian. The Asian cuisine with all its spiciness and spices – he’s really damn good at it. As far as personal is concerned, we just have a great level with each other and complement each other very well.
“Grill the Henssler”: presenter Laura Wontorra and TV chef Steffen Henssler (l.)
© RTL / Frank W. Hempel
And what else can he learn from you?
As far as cooking is concerned, it certainly doesn’t concern anything, perhaps most likely when it comes to football know-how. Although we have the same stuff there too. Steffen is particularly familiar with the Hamburg clubs. For professional reasons, however, I see this ‘plate’ with the higher number of points (laughs).
Are these two topics – cooking and football – also your topics of conversation behind the stage at “Grill den Henssler”?
Those are definitely two of the topics. Steffen comes from boxing and motorsport and has lots of entertaining anecdotes about Lage. But behind the scenes we talk most about and with our guests and the kitchen competitions. It’s a very professional level that I really appreciate.
You say of yourself that you cannot cook. This doesn’t affect your moderation, but what does the typical dinner at your home look like? Will your husband do the cooking?
In fact, my husband doesn’t cook that much, if I do, I’ll take care of it. I have to admit that I have a Thermomix and that I really like it. I’ve already learned a lot from it. Otherwise, of course, we also have our places in Cologne where we like to eat or order. And my husband always says that I make a great salad dressing. So we have a lot of salad (laughs)
Her husband has been vegan for two years. Are you fully connected or are two different dishes being prepared?
I am not 100 percent vegan, but I already eat a lot so that it is easier and we can eat together. But I’m not a fan of blatant bans; that’s always a bit difficult for me. But I actually hardly eat meat at all anymore, if then at festive meals. Otherwise it would be difficult for me to do without cheese – and milk chocolate too. But of course I also see how well my husband is doing with the vegan diet and I agree a lot.
Heidi Klum prefers to nibble in bed
127 images
You are absolutely happy on the show as well as on Instagram. But is there anything that infuriates you? If yes, what?
Yes, being unpunctual makes me angry. I am a cheerful person and also relaxed with mischief and wit on the back of my neck. My father always says: ‘You are very enthusiastic about playing.’ But if I’m not punctual, I’m really typically German. This is something that I cannot allow myself to do in my job, so I expect the same from others. I’m really stuffy about that.
Has there ever been a moment when you almost lost your composure during the show / moderation?
Because I mostly take place in entertaining shows, I haven’t had that in front of the camera yet. But there is one negative experience that stuck in my head. When I moderated the second division at ‘Sport1’, I was in conversation with the then coach from 1. FC Nürnberg. In the interview, he got really snotty and said that the Germans were no joke anyway and that he basically didn’t need to explain football to a woman. Completely unnecessarily simple. But that was actually my only negative experience.
Sources used: own interview