Günther Jauch celebrates his 70th birthday on July 13. Right on time for this milestone, his longtime companion Thomas Gottschalk (76) has spoken up and congratulates his colleague with a wink.
A vow that was actually supposed to hold
Gottschalk begins his message with a confession: "Günther! We had sworn to each other not to speak about each other again until we were at the other's open grave. But not saying anything on your 70th is harder for me than breaking this vow", quotes the "Bild" newspaper, which has exclusive access to the congratulations.
But instead of becoming sentimental, Gottschalk reflects on the topic of age. "So be it: You'll never catch up with me in terms of age anyway", he writes. For the appropriate comparison, he brings up an 82-year-old rock star: "Just as I know that Mick Jagger will always be a few years older than me. And he has more wrinkles than the two of us combined. That's how it should stay! Happy 70, dear Günther! Your friend Thomas."
A duo since the 1980s
Behind these lines is a friendship that dates back to the 1980s. Jauch and Gottschalk met at Bayerischer Rundfunk, where their acquaintance quickly became a radio success: From 1985 to 1989, the two co-hosted the "B3-Radioshow". The division of labor was clearly defined - one provided good cheer, the other delivered the facts.
Jauch later summed up this constellation perfectly. "He was the funny entertainer guy, I was the boring information uncle. We really played up these two poles", he once explained on the "OMR Podcast". It was precisely this mixture that would shape the collaboration between the two over decades, after they became prominent faces of German television.
Different paths, repeatedly crossed
After their radio days, Jauch and Gottschalk appeared together in front of the camera time and again, hosting Saturday evening shows and RTL's year-end reviews. Most recently, they formed a trio with Barbara Schöneberger (52) for the RTL homage "Denn sie wissen nicht, was passiert".
While Gottschalk shaped Saturday evenings for decades with "Wetten, dass..?", Jauch became another TV mainstay in 1999 when he took over "Wer wird Millionär?".
A farewell that gives the lines more weight
The fact that Gottschalk's congratulations revolve around age and mortality takes on special significance against the backdrop of recent months. On November 30, 2025, the entertainer publicly announced his serious illness. Just a few days later, on December 6, he said goodbye to television with a final episode of "Denn sie wissen nicht, was passiert".
He subsequently announced on Instagram that he would withdraw for the following six months and focus exclusively on his recovery. He recently continued to decline public appearances. "I won't appear publicly on stage before fall", he stated to "Spiegel". "After that, we'll see how my health is doing."
