Simone Thomalla (61) speaks more openly than ever about the man by her side. The actress made her relationship with Berlin construction entrepreneur René Marchand public in February 2025. 'René gives me incredible support. He is the person with whom I can let go,' she gushes in an interview with the magazine 'Bunte.' 'The best comes last,' is her conclusion.
'Love doesn't have to be fireworks'
Thomalla makes it clear in the conversation that closeness in a relationship is important to her. 'Even a strong woman sometimes just wants to be able to lean on someone. That doesn't make her weaker, but human,' she says. What she particularly values about Marchand is 'that I can simply be myself with him.' She also mentions another quality that still impresses her today: 'I find it pretty attractive that he owns a toolbox and can actually repair anything. I'm not used to that.'
Her profession regularly takes Simone Thomalla to unfamiliar places for weeks at a time. That makes it all the more important for her to come home and have someone by her side 'who gives you peace instead of even more unrest,' the 61-year-old tells 'Bunte.' Her conclusion is correspondingly simple: 'Love doesn't have to be fireworks. Sometimes it's simply that beautiful feeling of having arrived.'
Lessons from a difficult time
The way Thomalla speaks about her relationship today also has to do with the experiences of recent years. In December 2024, she ended a relationship after just a few months with a man who allegedly took money from numerous women. Shortly afterward, the man took his own life. 'I had expected many things, but not that. It deeply affected me,' the actress recalls. At some point, she had to accept that it was his decision and not her responsibility. 'You can accompany a person, you can love them, you can want to help them. But you can't live their life for them.'
She had been warned by many people at the time. Why did she still hold on to the man? 'Because I believe in people,' Thomalla explains. She certainly saw the warning signs, she wasn't blind. 'But I wanted to form my own opinion and make my own decisions. Maybe I was too optimistic. Maybe also a bit defiant.'
Help with depression, thoughts of ending one's life, and crisis management is offered in Germany day and night by Telefonseelsorge at the toll-free numbers 0800/111 0 111 and 0800/111 0 222 or at 116 123. Callers remain anonymous.
'I am the director of my life'
From the time afterward, Thomalla took away an important insight: 'I learned that great silence can be something wonderful. Being alone is not bad. Better alone than lonely together. You have to feel comfortable with yourself.' Being happy, she says, is largely a decision for her today. 'I am the director of my life. Unfortunately, I had to get a bit older to really internalize that.'
Not a bad word is said about her former partners in the interview. 'I'm not one of those women who poison their past,' she makes clear. Andre Vetters gave her 'the most wonderful daughter in the world,' she still shares a close friendship with Sven Martinek to this day, and with Rudi Assauer she had a 'wild, magnificent time.' She also looks back on the thirteen years with Silvio Heinevetter with reconciliation, even though she had to endure quite a bit as a woman with a much younger man back then.
Millions of viewers with 'Frühling'
Professionally, Simone Thomalla is also currently on a successful track. With the ZDF series 'Frühling,' in which she has portrayed village helper Katja Baumann for years, the actress regularly reaches an audience of millions.
