Thunderous applause for presenter Gottschalk leaves his farewell show early

"I'm looking forward to retirement": No more show and no more red carpets: Thomas Gottschalk is calling it a day, and not just with Saturday evening entertainment.

DPA

06.12.2025, 23:54

06.12.2025, 23:56

dpa

He used to overrun his shows by up to 73 minutes, but he surprisingly left his last Saturday evening show in the middle: Germany's best-known TV entertainer Thomas Gottschalk has bid farewell to the TV stage to thunderous applause and now wants to retire from the public eye. The 75-year-old, who is suffering from cancer, said this when asked by his long-time companion and co-host Günther Jauch on the show "Denn sie wissen nicht, was passiert".

"There is a certain point where you say, now the public has nothing more to do with you. Red carpets and so on - no longer an issue," said Gottschalk. At 10.15 p.m., the TV legend left the stage to the applause of the audience, his wife Karina received him with a kiss.

Jauch had previously asked Gottschalk how he imagined his new life, whether the Instagram account would actually be closed and whether he would no longer be seen on any shows. "You want to disappear, you will no longer be seen in this classic public sphere, and that's what you want?" asked Jauch. "Yes," Gottschalk replied, adding: "I think 75 is the right time to say I'm retiring."

Gottschalk on shock diagnosis"Unfortunately, my cancer is considered particularly aggressive"

"Please don't worry about me"

He feels "excellent", said the former "Wetten, dass...?" presenter. "I'm doing well and I'm looking forward to retirement". He also told Jauch about the regular check-ups he has due to his cancer. The latter wanted to know whether he was being checked to see if anything had "formed" again. "That's exactly the point," said Gottschalk. But he also said: "I hope it doesn't happen and he also assumes that it won't happen." This was followed by loud applause in the studio.

Gottschalk had already announced in the spring that he would at least say goodbye to Saturday evening entertainment with the RTL game show "Denn sie wissen nicht, was passiert" on December 6. At his side that evening were his co-stars Günther Jauch and Barbara Schöneberger as well as presenter Jörg Pilawa, singer Giovanni Zarrella and Gottschalk's long-time friend, comedian Mike Krüger.

Gottschalk announced his cancer last Sunday. In the morning, the entertainer addressed his fans in a video message. "Please don't worry about me," he said in the post published on Instagram. "You know I take a positive approach to things. I'm doing the same in this case."

"Typical man"How Karina Gottschalk took her husband for a life-saving check-up

"Cancer is a very private thing"

The 75-year-old also explained why he was so late in going public: "I don't like talking about it because I've always believed that private and professional matters should be kept separate. And an illness - especially cancer - is very private, and I don't like talking about it." Gottschalk said of the type of cancer: "It's very rare and obviously very dangerous."

Gottschalk is one of the most successful show hosts in the history of German TV entertainment. He follows in the tradition of screen legends such as Rudi Carrell (1934-2006), Hans Rosenthal (1925-1987), Joachim Fuchsberger (1927-2014) and Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff (1921-1998). With "Wetten, dass...?" on ZDF, he managed to gather millions of people in front of their television sets - and became a television icon.