“Wetten, dass ..?” on ZDF: Gottschalk in a leopard look

With the second revival episode of “Wetten, dass..?” Thomas Gottschalk also achieved a respectable rating and passed the 10 million mark. The show from Friedrichshafen saw 10.09 million viewers on ZDF on Saturday evening. The market share was 39.5 percent. Among the guests of Gottschalk and his co-moderator Michelle Hunziker were Robbie Williams and Herbert Grönemeyer.

However, Gottschalk missed the outstanding success of the previous year: When “Wetten, dass..?” returned about a year ago, 13.8 million viewers (45.7 percent market share) were there. Eleven years ago, Gottschalk celebrated his farewell to the show in Friedrichshafen. Another retro edition of “Wetten, dass..?” is planned for the coming year.

Gottschalk led the show this time in a red leopard look. The audience greeted him with standing applause. He shook it off with a casual “It’s just me”. At his side: Michelle Hunziker in an opulent pink designer ball gown. She took care of the candidates, guided Gottschalk through the betting jungle and, happily twirling around, even outshone him a little in between.

Bigger bet, heartbreak and can-can dance

Gottschalk kissed the hand of the first contestant, Sandra Hasenauer, who was supposed to pierce eggs with an excavator. At 8:42 p.m. it was said for the first time: “Great, the bet counts!” Without a big bet, “Wetten, dass..?” is hard to imagine. Now, for the first time, a woman was at the wheel.

The betting sponsors were filmmaker Michael Bully Herbig and actor Christoph Maria Herbst, who bet against the excavator driver. The stake: a can-can dance, which you could see on stage thanks to five eggs punctured with an excavator shovel and thus a bet won.

Pop singer Robbie Williams performed his heartbreak hit “Angels” and mingled with the audience. Countless mobile phone lights lit up in the exhibition hall, the spectators sang in unison and Robbie Williams high-fived fans. After that, he was initially allowed to disappear backstage, but later had to go to the couch as a godfather for a game bet. The mission was not easy for the Brit. In the Germany jersey, he should wish the national team good luck at the World Cup in Qatar.

Jell-O for Malkovich, Ferres and Krug

The candidate wanted to recognize board games by the sound they made when they were poured out. He has a lot of questions about it, Williams joked. “First: why?” Thomas Gottschalk gave the answer: “If you ask this question, you don’t have to watch this show.” The candidate was able to win the bet for himself and the pop star, who had to catch his plane shortly afterwards.

A bit of Hollywood glitz was brought to the studio by John Malkovich, who recounted a four-month jelly diet. He tried all the colors, Malkovich said. He was promoting a new film with actress and producer Veronica Ferres and her daughter Lilly Krug. The show lost a bit of momentum here.

Together, Malkovich, Ferres and Krug were godparents for the outside bet, which this time took place at the Europapark in Rust. On a roller coaster, one candidate kept throwing a smartphone at the other. Three out of six should be caught. In the end, only one throw was successful and the bet was lost, but it was always spectacular. For the godparents it was: Eat jelly.

The entertainment show became political with the appearance of Herbert Grönemeyer, who presented his new song “Die Hand” and referred to the crises of the world with recordings. He wanted to show solidarity, he said. As a bet, Grönemeyer announced that he would cover the costs for the Berliner Tafel for a month. An allusion to Gottschalk’s style of dancing, the musician replied with a smile: “I think I dance very gracefully.”

There was a corona-related cancellation from tennis star Alexander Zverev, who had to stay at home because of a positive test. He “would have loved to” have been there, said Zverev via video greeting. “Wetten, dass ..?” is his “absolute favorite show”. Maybe it will work in the next issue. It is planned for the coming year.