At first he didn’t feel like it at all. “I wasn’t very enthusiastic about hosting a quiz show. I was told it was a new format from England and I was given four video cassettes to watch at home – completely in English. I hardly understood a word because “The moderator asked for Welsh proverbs for between zero and 500 pounds,” said Günther Jauch in an interview with the “Bild” newspaper in 2019. The occasion was the 20th anniversary of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” But contrary to his expectations, the quiz fever caught him – and it continues to this day.
He has been a presenter on the show for almost 25 years. “Who wants to be a millionaire?” without Günther Jauch – hard to imagine for many. Jauch now said in the “Baywatch Berlin” podcast by Klaas Heufer-Umlauf that he keeps hearing the question of how long he wants to continue doing the format. “As if physical frailty is written all over your face.” There are four factors that decide when he gives up the quiz chair.
“Firstly, whether the audience still wants it. That’s why I’m also interested in the ratings. If I notice that nobody wants to see it anymore, I no longer see the justification for doing that. Secondly, the so-called advertising industry still has to be interested of the broadcast.” This means that without commercials there is no “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” The third factor for Jauch is the so-called “go away”, meaning RTL would no longer see him as a quiz master, but would offer him other projects. “For example, a podcast,” joked Jauch. Ultimately, he himself comes in fourth place: “If I say that I’m confusing all the questions or maybe that I’m getting tired at some point, then it’s over.”
Jauch denied the assumption that the questions would be repeated over the decades and that a certain amount of boredom could arise. “New questions always have to be asked. Worse, we have to constantly monitor, both retroactively and presently, what questions are being asked somewhere else,” he said. The biggest “killer” is when a question appears that has already been asked in another quiz show and the candidate can therefore answer it very easily.
The motivation, even after almost 25 years, of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” To moderate, he draws primarily from the candidates. “My mother-in-law once said: ‘You’ve got God’s big zoo going on’. I find it interesting what people come up with. Of course, not every question is equally interesting. But how they react, which dead end they run into, which planks in front of your head – especially the first five questions are funny. That’s why I still enjoy the show,” explained Jauch.
Editor’s note: Stern is part of RTL Deutschland.
Quelle: “Baywatch Berlin”
Also read:
