25 years of "Who wants to be a millionaire?" Günther Jauch: "I'm afraid that scantily clad ladies will jump out of a cake"

The cult show "Who wants to be a millionaire?" celebrates its anniversary. RTL broadcast the first episode in September 1999. Host Günther Jauch talks about his beginnings, the recipe for success of "WWM" - and what he is most afraid of.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" with Günther Jauch is like a well-functioning tractor, a little outdated, but it runs - practically always - perfectly.

Günther Jauch has hosted the popular quiz show on RTL since its launch on September 3, 1999. This makes the 68-year-old one of the show dinosaurs in the German TV universe. What's more: Günther Jauch is the longest-serving host in the world, writes rtl.de.

The father of four already has 54 seasons under his belt - and there is no end in sight. No wonder: Jauch's quiz show brings the station good ratings.

But what's next? Does Günther Jauch want to host the successful format for another 25 years? "Nah, nah, nah, if I add another 25 years, I'll be 93 years old, even they don't want that," he says jokingly in an interview with the "rtl" press portal.

And what is the recipe for success on "Who wants to be a millionaire?"? Günther Jauch: "I think the inventors have made a stroke of luck by keeping it as simple as possible. [...] We immediately had the idea that you could win a million. The term millionaire still has the same magic today as it did in the 1950s, when a millionaire was an incredibly rich person. [...] It was something new, something exciting, it wasn't easy to become a millionaire, it took a while until there was the first D-Mark millionaire. At the latest then people realized, aha, you can actually win a million."

Jauch still remembers the first winner of his show well: "The first winner was a professor. You might have thought that only intellectuals with at least a doctorate could win the million." That changed shortly afterwards. The second winner was an unemployed housewife. Jauch: "At that moment, everyone understood that anything is possible on this show."

Günther Jauch on the anniversary episode: "I'm expecting the worst"

The 25th anniversary show is a black box - even for Günther Jauch. He doesn't know what guests or other activities await him: "I'm worried about that. The worst thing on television for me is surprise shows. [...] I'm also afraid that some scantily clad ladies will jump out of some cake with a big 25 on it. I'm never nervous before a show, but here I'm expecting the worst."

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