Jan Köppen’s jungle work day
His alarm goes off at 12:30 a.m
Jan Köppen is on his second mission to the jungle camp this year.
© Photo: RTL
Jan Köppen gives insights into his everyday work in the jungle camp – including early alarm clocks and little sleep.
Jungle camp moderator Jan Köppen (40) speaks openly about his daily routine during the current season of “I’m a Star – Get Me Out of Here!”. In his Instagram stories he describes a typical working day in the jungle camp. The time change in particular is a big factor: If the live show from the camp is broadcast at 10:15 p.m. in Germany, it is already 7:15 a.m. the following day in Australia. For Köppen this means that he has already been up for around seven hours by the time the broadcast starts.
His alarm clock goes off at 12:30 a.m. local time, and after tea and a drink with electrolytes, Köppen is picked up at 1:25 a.m. and arrives at the camp at around 2:10 a.m. Then he starts by setting the decks to music and examining excerpts over a cup of coffee. The script discussion for the upcoming episode follows at 3:00 a.m. “We go through the whole book, with all the people responsible and the authors. Then I learn the book by heart,” explains Köppen.
From 3:30 a.m. he eats breakfast while studying and also watches other clips and then disappears into the mask for styling at 5:45 a.m. At 6:30 a.m. the transport to the famous tree house in the jungle camp set follows, at 7:00 a.m. the live teaser is recorded and at 7:15 a.m. the show starts alongside co-host Sonja Zietlow (55), which has been around since season one of the show.
Jan Köppen only gets a few hours of sleep per day
After the show has been broadcast, however, it’s far from over: At around 9:15 a.m. Australian time, there’s a quick lunch and at 10:00 a.m. there’s a discussion of the upcoming jungle test, which won’t be broadcast on German TV until the following day. The test is carried out and recorded around 11 a.m. or 11:30 a.m., his working day ends at 1 p.m. and after the drive home he is back home at around 2 p.m. Then, after a little snack and some “watching series” and “listening to podcasts,” the 40-year-old goes back to bed at some point. He usually gets five to six hours of sleep per day.
In another story, shortly before going to bed, Köppen makes it clear that he doesn’t want to complain when describing his work day. These two weeks of jungle camp are absurd times, but: “There are a lot of people who keep the place running and work normally in shifts like this.” The moderator gave the nursing professions as an example, for which he has a lot of respect.
Köppen made his first attempts at TV on the now discontinued music channel Viva and then presented shows such as “Ninja Warrior”, “Dance Dance Dance”, “Take Me Out” and “RTL Turmsprung”, among others. In January 2023, he succeeded Daniel Hartwig (45), who voluntarily left the jungle camp. Hartwig took over the jungle moderation alongside Sonja Zietlow from 2013 after the unexpected death of Dirk Bach (1961-2021).