Anna Ermakova and more
The show winners of the year
Anna Ermakova won “Let’s Dance” with Valentin Lusin in 2023.
© imago images/Panama Pictures
They secured victories on TV shows and won the admiration of audiences. But what happened afterwards in the lives of these TV heroes?
“I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!”
Djamila Rowe (56) is the reigning jungle queen. At the end of January, 62.26 percent of viewers watched the finale of “I’m a Star – Get Me Out of Here!” called for the make-up artist. She clearly beat her competitors “Gigi” Birofio (24) and Lucas Cordalis (56). Rowe took part in “I’m a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here!” “I spoke a lot of things from my soul and that was good for me,” she said after her victory on “stern TV”. She had probably “never cried as much in her entire life as she did there.” At the same time, the show was a great experience for her: “The jungle camp was the most beautiful experience in my life.”
After the jungle camp, Rowe traveled a lot and was a frequent guest at events such as the Bertelsmann party in June and Berlin Fashion Week in July. Except for “Grill den Henssler” at the end of April, you didn’t see them on television anymore. From September there was a TV reunion with Rowe, she became part of the new RTLzwei documentary series “VIPs only! Around the world with the jet set”.
“The Masked Singer”
The former “DSDS” winner Luca Hänni (29) won the eighth season of the celebrity mask show “The Masked Singer” in spring 2023. The Swiss singer, as Shoebill, prevailed over actress Felicitas Woll (43) as a hedgehog, among others. Shortly after his victory, Hänni released the single “Not Everyone’s Darling” with his “Masked Singer” colleague Patricia Kelly (54).
But his personal life in particular had some highlights after his victory. Together with his partner Christina Luft (33), he not only moved into their shared house in Switzerland, the couple also got married at the end of August. The two met as a celebrity professional dance couple in 2020 on the RTL dance show “Let’s Dance”.
“Let’s Dance”
The long-running RTL dance show also attracted a lot of attention in 2023 – especially because of the winner chosen at the end. Anna Ermakova, the daughter of Boris Becker (56) and Angela Ermakova (55), and her dance partner Valentin Lusin (36) prevailed in the grand final against Julia Beautx (24) and Philipp Boy (36) and won the dance cup. In total, Ermakova received the jury’s highest score eleven times – a record for the show.
After that, she didn’t just go on the “Let’s Dance” live tour. With her victory, the 23-year-old also landed her very first TV jury job, which she will take up in 2024: “Being part of ‘Das Supertalent’ is like an accolade for me,” she explains in an RTL interview. “Through my participation in ‘Let’s Dance’, I know exactly what it feels like to be a candidate on such a show. I’ve learned to always believe in myself and never give up.”
“Germany’s Next Topmodel”
On June 15th, Vivien Blotzki (23) won the 18th season of “Germany’s Next Top Model”. “Indescribable, I’m breathless,” she described her feelings immediately after the victory. The Koblenz native was awarded prize money of 100,000 euros, she was allowed to appear on the cover of the German “Harper’s Bazaar” and worked for a campaign for the cosmetics manufacturer Mac Cosmetics.
The “GNTM” winner’s life has changed in many ways since her victory. She continues to pursue her modeling career, for example walking the catwalk at Berlin Fashion Week for designer Jasmin Erbas. She also completed her training as a retail clerk. And she repeatedly makes clear statements against body shaming on her social media account with, among other things, revealing pictures.
“Battle of the Reality Stars” and “Summer House of the Stars”
As a super fan of the show, Serkan Yavuz (30) went into the “Battle of the Reality Stars” for a symbolic fee of one euro. In the end it paid off and the ex-“Bachelor in Paradise” candidate won the fourth season of the RTLzwei reality show in the summer. Yavuz also initially had good news from his private life. The reality TV star married partner Samira Yavuz. The two former candidates from the “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” universe found each other in “Bachelor in Paradise”. They have been parents to little Nova since 2022. In October, the two were announced as the replacement couple for the “Summer House of the Stars”.
And Serkan Yavuz was also successful in the RTL “Sommerhaus”, this time with his partner at his side. The two stood out for their athleticism, cleverness and ambition. As in previous seasons, the couples had to assemble faces from puzzle pieces at the end. Justine Dippl (35) and Arben Zekic (28) were a little less successful and so Serkan and Samira were able to raise the suitcase with 50,000 euros in the final, which was shown in mid-November. The fact that they were then accused of tactical games left the couple cold, like Serkan Yavuz in an RTL interview emphasized. “We are incredibly proud, we did everything right, we gave everything, we didn’t fail as a couple. We didn’t lose each other and we also took home money, what more could you want.”
“The Traitors”
“The Traitors – Trust No One!” started this year for the first time. The RTL show featured 16 stars who competed with and against each other for 50,000 euros. Among them were three traitors who wanted to get their hands on the treasure on their own and were secretly selected by game director Sonja Zietlow (55). They were allowed to eliminate one of the other contestants each night. The “loyal ones”, on the other hand, were supposed to expose a traitor.
Singer Anna-Carina Woitschack (31) and colleague Vincent Gross (27) were able to prevail as traitors until the end and took home the silver treasure worth 46,500 euros. Woitschack has been back on stage as a singer since her TV outing and recently revealed on Instagram: “We are working on new music and some surprises.” The Swiss singer Gross recently got his fans in the mood for Christmas with the song “Glühwein”.
“Celebrity Big Brother”
Towards the end of the year, some more or less well-known personalities traditionally move into the “Celebrity Big Brother” house. Reality star Yeliz Koc (30) won at the beginning of December with 51.31 percent of the audience votes against social media star and wildcard winner Marco Schlitzer (21). “I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Koc cried tears of joy after learning of her victory. She celebrated her win with a prize money of 100,000 euros, which she wanted to donate and give part of it to her mother, as she announced on the TV container. But it’s not just the bonus and public attention that she gets from her participation. As she recently revealed in an Instagram story, she definitely wants to stay in touch with her colleagues Dilara Kruse (32) and Dominik Stuckmann (31). “Two people who have hearts of gold and have always been by my side!”