Read Thomas Gottschalk’s final words on the last “Wetten, dass ..?” broadcast here
Yesterday, Saturday (November 25, 2023), the time had come: Thomas Gottschalk’s last “Wetten, dass ..?” broadcast flickered across the screens. After three hours of the Offenburg show with Helene Fischer, Take That, Shirin David and other guests, the ZDF presenter began his (really last?) moderation of the show.
Tommy’s speech:
“I am about to say goodbye to you with my words. Which in the end is not a sad event. I’m not standing here, feeling desperate and saying: That’s it. My life goes on and I look forward to everything that comes. There are essentially two reasons: It’s neither my physical nor my mental state, neither of which were great. But I have two reasons. One would be: It is problematic if at some point you have to explain to me the guests who are sitting on the bench with me. I still know them all. But it’s nonsense when I ask: Where are Sophia Loren and Rod Stewart? And they say: They both can’t walk anymore. And the second reason is that, and I really have to say this, I always said on TV what I said at home. I now speak differently at home than I do on television – and that’s not a great development either. And before some desperate production manager runs back and forth and says: You’ve created another shitstorm. Then I’d rather not say anything more.”
Gottschalk, 71, no longer feels up to his guests due to their age. But the second reason for his departure is probably more interesting. He has repeatedly been discussed in recent years: as an “old white man” who doesn’t give a damn about “woke culture”. He also proved – involuntarily – that Gottschalk was offending in yesterday’s “Wetten, dass ..?” year-old Thommy gets down to business.
In his – depending on your point of view – carefree or impudent way, the entertainer said that Shirin David’s enthusiasm for opera music was not visible. Neither is she a feminist. David had the right answer: “I want to say that as a feminist we can be good-looking, smart and eloquent and beautiful at the same time. One does not exclude the other.” Clear indication to the older show titan that sexist comments will not make you look good in 2023.