Peggy Jerofke (50) and Stephan "Steff" Jerkel (56) are among the most well-known faces of the VOX emigration documentary "Goodbye Deutschland!". For the 20th anniversary of the format, their love story is being supplemented by a long-awaited chapter: The network is showing the wedding, which took place on June 26 and of which there have so far been only some excerpts on Instagram among other places.
The emotional celebration can be seen on Monday, July 27, starting at 8:15 PM as part of a two-hour premiere broadcast with the topics "Peggy and Steff: The Dream Wedding" and "Ute and Kwesi: Family Happiness in Gambia?" (also on RTL+). For the restaurant-owner couple from Mallorca, it was a long road to the wedding - two engagements and several breakups included.
Vows after almost 30 years
Peggy Jerofke and Steff Jerkel first met in 1998. In 2009, the two emigrated together to the Spanish vacation island, where they still work in the restaurant industry today. Since 2014, "Goodbye Deutschland" has been following their life on the island - and thus they also became TV stars. In addition to the emigration show, they appeared in other formats in recent years, such as together in "Sommerhaus der Stars" (RTL) in 2021, or Jerofke solo in "Kampf der Realitystars" in 2023.
Jerkel and Jerofke got engaged for the first time on her 39th birthday in March 2015. But the wedding didn't happen at first; instead, a long-cherished personal dream was fulfilled: in 2018, their daughter Josephine was born thanks to artificial insemination.
Successful at work and finally parents: Everything looked perfect. But in November 2022, the two shocked fans with the news that they had separated after almost a quarter of a century. In the "Goodbye Deutschland" episode from November 15, 2022, they spoke openly about the end of their relationship. They had separated nine or ten times before, but had tried everything for their daughter. But this time it was serious, Peggy Jerofke explained. They had developed too much "in different directions".
In an RTL interview, Steff Jerkel explained in tears at the time: "We fought for a long, long time and really tried everything... It doesn't work anymore." And further: "Peggy is an incredible woman, but something is missing. We argue and that, I think, is the worst thing for the child."
Proposal crowned love comeback
However, the two could never quite let go of each other, and fans repeatedly speculated about a love comeback. In April 2024, the couple then actually announced that they had gotten back together. This was underscored on June 10, 2024, when Jerkel proposed to his longtime partner again at the opening of his new establishment "Sharky's Bar" in Cala Ratjada. Of course, the VOX cameras were there as well. "I don't want anyone else", he explained on "Goodbye Deutschland" and insisted that he never wanted to "lose her again".
The wedding was originally supposed to take place on a yacht in 2025, but was then postponed to 2026 to have more time for planning. After all, the couple had set out to celebrate their turbulent love story with the "most awesome wedding". "The wedding will be simply incredible, I can promise you that. There has never been anything like this", Jerkel emphasized in an Instagram story. Viewers can now see for themselves on Monday evening.
