Gaby Köster (64) is making her difficult financial situation public. 18 years after the severe stroke that ended her successful television career, the comedian tells the magazine "Bunte" about money worries that keep her awake at night. "The reserves from the good times have long been used up. I'm living on my overdraft and have taken out a loan on my house", Köster tells the magazine. "That really gives me sleepless nights."
She is particularly tormented by thoughts of her 33-year-old son: "I never wanted my son to inherit debts from me." He almost moved her to tears with one sentence: "Mom, my darling - when I finish my studies, I'll earn good money, that will be enough for both of us."
"Mini romance" during her time in the clinic
In the conversation, Köster also looks back on past loves. After her divorce, she was in a partnership at the time of the stroke - which she now puts into perspective. "In hindsight, I wouldn't call that a steady relationship. That was a mini romance, as we say in the Rhineland", she says. The man publicly presented himself as a caring partner but at the same time committed himself elsewhere: "While he was involved with me and publicly played the caretaker, he got engaged to another woman and proposed to her on a gondola in Venice."
The 64-year-old no longer hopes for a new love. "I have men I do things with. But that's far removed from what you could call a relationship. I don't feel like that anymore either", Köster makes clear. Her view of others reinforces this: "When I look around, I see many relationships that lie in ruins. I don't need that anymore."
The end of the marriage
Köster was married to Thomas Köller for twelve years; the couple divorced in 2005. She describes the end of the marriage as a gradual process. Her husband once told her that he had always tried to "shine in my sun" and felt like a "player's wife" in the process. "At some point I couldn't cope with it anymore and couldn't stand it anymore because I was simply unhappy", according to Köster.
Despite all the setbacks, the Cologne native has not lost her zest for life. She describes the birth of her son 33 years ago as the most beautiful time of her life. And on gloomy days she helps herself: "When it doesn't shine, I put on brightly colored clothes and build myself a sun."
