Thomas Gottschalk and “Bets
Not enthusiastic about the Kaulitz brothers
Thomas Gottschalk during his last “Wetten,dass..?” moderation in November 2023.
© IMAGO/Arnulf Hettrich
The Kaulitz brothers have put themselves forward as possible successors to “Wetten, dass…?” Gottschalk has a clear opinion on this.
How about “Bet, that..?” further after themselves Thomas Gottschalk (73) said goodbye as presenter with one last broadcast? This is the question that concerns television Germany. There have been rumors for a few weeks that Bill and Tom Kaulitz (both 34) would take over the cult TV show from 2025. Thomas Gottschalk has now personally commented on this speculation in his joint podcast with Mike Krüger (72), “Die Supernasen”. He doesn’t seem to be enthusiastic about the potential successors.
“Not the right decision”
In the current episode “Cosmetic Surgery and Chart Successes” on RTL+ on December 19th, Mike Krüger addresses the topic of “Wetten, dass…?” successor. He read that the “adoptive sons of Heidi Klum” want to take over the TV show. Gottschalk replies that he had already heard the rumor and immediately contacted ZDF to find out: “Of course I immediately asked whether that was the case, because I’m naturally interested in what happens to this show. ZDF is not having any discussions – neither with them one, nor with the other Kaulitz. Not even with Heidi Klum, who is, so to speak, the legal guardian of the two.”
In his opinion, the Kaulitz brothers’ statement was “a kind of canard.” He believes “it wouldn’t be the right decision ‘Bet that…?’ to continue with both of them”. They also wouldn’t have been able to continue their own show “That’s My Jam”. “They once had a show, but it was canceled due to a lack of viewers,” said Gottschalk in the podcast. RTL took the show off its free TV program in the summer after just three editions.
How does “Wetten, dat..?” actually work? further?
At the end of November, Bill and Tom Kaulitz announced, ‘Wetten, that…?’ to want to take over and repeated this statement in her podcast “Kaulitz Hills” at the beginning of December. When asked by the news agency spot on news, ZDF itself announced at the end of November: “ZDF will decide in due course what happens next with the format.”