They met each other a good year ago – and were immediately “in love”. Now actress Anke Engelke (57) and entertainer Riccardo Simonetti (30) talk to each other in a podcast once a week about their lives. The podcast has the character of a diary and is “emotionally very charged,” said Engelke of the German Press Agency in Berlin. “We open our hearts to each other,” added Simonetti. “But we also open the doors to our industry and talk about a lot of things that happen to us there and that touch us.” There should be no taboos during the talks, they announced, but they always wanted to meet each other with empathy.
The first episode of the podcast “Quality Time with Anke and Riccardo” has been available on the Spotify streaming platform since Friday, with 16 episodes planned. The idea came about after both of them met about a year ago on the ProSieben show “Who is stealing the show?” had met. “We were immediately interested in each other,” said Engelke from Cologne about Simonetti from Berlin. It’s not easy for her to let new people into her life.
“Many people who work and have families probably know that, time is often rather short,” explained Engelke. You then have a bad conscience and think: “If new people come along now, I won’t be able to give them my time, it’s not fair.” In addition, she also considers: “Why could people be interested in me, in a friendship with me? Without wanting to be suspicious, I always take a closer look.”
The podcast is also intended to create greater awareness of queer people. Through Riccardo, she has very exposed access to the queer world, Engelke said. She also sees herself “as a kind of representative” who wants to ask questions “on behalf of those who would not ask”. “Perhaps I don’t take it too badly if I indirectly express my regret that so many people are so ignorant or have an anti-attitude.”
Simonetti said that he himself had to deal with prejudice and hostility time and again. “The fact that I am a made-up, homosexual person is in itself a provocation for many people, for which I even receive death threats.” The podcast could be a chance to reach people who wouldn’t otherwise listen. “When two different people talk about the same topic, they are heard differently,” said Simonetti.