There are crazy bets, celebrities and a blonde presenter. There is even an excavator. But the new Saturday evening show on RTL is not called “Wetten dass..?”, but “I bet on you”.
No, Guido Cantz has not yet spoken to Thomas Gottschalk about the fact that he is now also hosting a betting program on Saturday evening. The next time he meets him or talks to him on the phone, he will of course bring it up.
“There are no fears of contact,” assures Cantz of the German Press Agency. For the rest, he doesn’t see much in it: “Yes, we bet that’s true. But it’s different than “Wetten dass..?” I think there is room for both programs on German television.”
The new RTL show “I bet on you” premieres on Saturday (July 2) at 8:15 p.m. Two three-hour editions are planned so far, after that you want to see further. Some bets from the first edition: A man in a wheelchair wants to pull a 22-ton truck with 50 people. Another man bets he can spot 20 brands of mattress just by lying on it. Two young women bet that they only recognize 100 songs from the excerpted song snippet “Love”. They work in a bridal shop where they are showered with non-stop love songs all day long. There is even a digger bet: A young man wants to set a table with a digger, including cutlery and a vase of flowers.
Concept for “Wetten, dass..?” copied?
So far so good. Nevertheless, many people have the feeling that the concept has been copied. Guido Cantz knows that, of course. «Of course there’s “Wetten dass…?”, and of course it’s a show that I watched as a child. I know Thomas well, we text each other on birthdays and talk on the phone from time to time, of course he is a legend I would never compare myself to. But to be fair, it’s not the only show on German television that features people who can do something special.”
At the end of last year, Cantz moderated the ARD show “Do you understand fun?” given up because he wanted to do something else again. Then he started at RTL with the new edition of “7 days, 7 heads”, the continuation is still uncertain due to weakening ratings. So now the Cologne entertainer and comedian is back at the big Saturday night show for the whole family. “But of course it’s something completely different than ‘Do you understand fun?'” he says.
Celebrities bet money on candidates
In “I bet on you” there are seven betting candidates per edition. There are also three celebrities, in the first issue Mario Barth, Motsi Mabuse and Sonja Zietlow. They bet a self-chosen amount of money on each of the candidates depending on whether they believe they will succeed. The starting capital is 20,000 euros. At the end, a certain amount is left over. This money is doubled and then goes to the bet winner and to a good cause.
According to the 50-year-old Guido Cantz, there is even a noticeable difference to the “Wetten dass..?” show by the 72-year-old veteran. “Our celebrities are not picked up by a private plane in the middle of the show.” This is a small allusion to the fact that Hollywood stars rarely stayed on Gottschalk’s sofa for a full two hours.
