Monica Lierhaus celebrates her 50th birthday on May 25, 2020. In the early 2000s, she had worked her way up to become the popular sports presenter of the ARD and was suddenly thwarted by a stroke of fate. She fought back in front of the camera and interviewed the greats of the football world again today. A final farewell as a moderator does not seem far off.
Monica Lierhaus was born in Hamburg in 1970. In 1989 she graduated from high school in her hometown and began studying English and German in 1990. Two years later she dropped out of college after an intermediate exam. After some internships in the newspaper and radio sector, she completed a traineeship at the private broadcaster Sat.1. In 1992 she hosted the Hamburg regional news and from 1994 to 1996 she worked as a reporter for Sat.1-Nachrichten. From 1997, the tabloid format "Blitz" was moderated. Two years later, it found its place in sports reporting.
Your dedicated path to becoming a sports presenter
From 1991 to 2001 she moderated the sports programs "ran" and "live-ran". During this time she also worked as a commentator for the pay-TV channel Sky and mainly commented on tennis matches and football games. From 2004 to 2009 she was the face of the ARD "sports show" and presented the Bundesliga and the DFB Cup there. There was hardly a major sporting event without her moderation at the time: ski jumping, Tour de France, Olympic Games (2004, 2006, 2008), World Cup (2006) and EM (2008).
2009 saw a deep cut in her life. The moderator was diagnosed with an aneurysm while preparing for an eye surgery. There were complications with the removal, Lierhaus had to be put into an artificial coma for four months. In rehab, Lierhaus had to swallow, eat and move around again.
The doctors predicted her life in a wheelchair, but she did not want to bow to her fate and left the clinic on her own. "If I had known what to expect, I would not have had the aneurysm removed," Lierhaus said in a "colorful" interview recently. The doctors would have advised her to do so: "They had told me that one day I might fall dead."
The way back in front of the camera
In 2011, she took the step back in public and presented herself as a fighter. At the award ceremony for the Golden Camera, she received the honorary award and explained to those present that she was fighting very hard to regain her independence. "As of today, I want to work on my future again," she promised. No sooner said than done: In April 2012 she returned as a sports reporter and interviewed national coach Joachim Löw (60) for "Sport Bild". Just five years after the operation, she worked for Sky at the World Cup in Brazil. She still works for the broadcaster today.
There was also a big change in private life: For 18 years, her producer Rolf Hellgardt stood by her side, to whom she made an application to the Golden Camera. In May 2015, the two announced their separation. She currently lives as a single, but is not lonely, Lierhaus explained in the "Bunte" interview. She does not think much about a new love: "I do not shut myself off, but I do not search either."
Final TV farewell?
In 2017, she finally wanted to manage her life on her own and moved out of the shared house with her sister Eva, who took care of her after the unsuccessful operation. In June 2019, Lierhaus spoke about her professional future: "At 50, the end is in front of the camera. I'll have to think about something," said Lierhaus of the "Bild am Sonntag". Women over 50 would no longer have chances as moderators on German television – their colleagues Birgit Schrowange and Carmen Nebel were absolute exceptions. Lierhaus said that she did not want to say goodbye to the world of TV. Fortunately, there are enough jobs behind it.
Her severe stroke of fate eleven years ago has accompanied Lierhaus, who is an ambassador for German Stroke Assistance, to this day: "I can't sit longer than two hours," she told the magazine "Bunte". Then she had to go or lay on her side. Her left hand was still deaf, so she had to live with it. She also "no longer dreams of walking down the stairs freehand". That is unrealistic. To cope with her limitations, help her great-grandmother's motto, Lierhaus explained. You have adopted their saying: "Attitude, princess, attitude!"