– “Legends” among them: The staff in the jungle summer of 2024
RTL sends 13 semi-celebrities into his “Legends Jungle”. All of them have been part of the show before. Find out who they are and what you need to know here.
Giulia Siegel (49)
Giulia Siegel, so-called TV personality, actress, model, DJ and daughter of Grand Prix composer Ralph Siegel, looks back on the longest Jungle Camp History. She was there in 2009. She left the show because of back pain. It was the season in which the then 77-year-old actress Ingrid van Bergen ate live maggots and won. Siegel was remembered for her smoking.
Sarah Knappik (37)
Sarah Knappik, known as a model (“Germany’s Next Top Model”), was part of the team in 2011, which sent a pleasant shiver down the spine of loyal viewers. Then actor Mathieu Carrière begged her on his knees: “You are our problem. Go away. Please, please, please leave us!” She eventually left voluntarily, but left behind a few English quotes for eternity (“I was out of breath”). RTL let her know: “My mission is to bring back little Sarah, who got lost in the jungle.”
Georgina Fleur (34)
Georgina Fleur moved into the jungle camp in 2013 after her star – if you will – rose as a participant in the dating format “The Bachelor”. She later moved into the “Summer House of the Stars” with her then partner Kubilay, where there were many arguments, including between them. Their relationship, which RTL says is no longer together, has been a topic in the tabloid press ever since.
Winfried Glatzeder (79)
When Winfried Glatzeder entered the jungle in 2014, he was one of those participants who made you wonder: Why him? The actor became famous in 1973 with the lead role in Heiner Carow’s “The Legend of Paul and Paula”. He was once known as the “Belmondo of the East”. But that was a while ago. Now he is 79 and back in the jungle. “My children need money and I need confirmation that, at the age of eighty, I can be the oldest participant in a super format,” he explained to RTL.
Mola Adebisi (51)
Mola Adebisi is a household name for anyone who loved Viva. The presenter was practically part of the furniture at the former music channel. In 2014, he moved into the jungle camp without leaving much of a mark – he came in 8th place. In 2024, he and his wife Adelina became parents of a son. Before the jungle, he told RTL: “My main focus is on losing weight!”
David Ortega (38)
David Ortega is probably the least known character in the 2024 summer camp, even for jungle fans. When the former actor in the series “Cologne 50667” first appeared on the show in 2016, he had short black hair and a neatly trimmed beard. Today, with long hair and a white robe, he looks like a failed Jesus actor. In 2021, Ortega was a brief guest in the show spin-off “The Big Jungle Show” and raised more questions than answers with his appearance and sometimes very erratic thought processes.
Thorsten Legat (55)
Thorsten Legat, former footballer (including VfB Stuttgart) and walking powerhouse, has become something of a mascot of the jungle camp. This was due to his appearance in the 2016 season, where he stood out for his extremely strong ambition (to put it mildly). Probably no other candidate in the history of the show took the hunt for the star-shaped meals as seriously as Legat with his mountains of muscles. He also has a talent for getting incredibly excited in his speeches. In other words: he is a good candidate.
Squad Loth (51)
Kader Loth is something of a grande dame of German trash TV. She became known many years ago through her participation in formats such as “Big Brother” and “Die Alm”. In “Die Burg” she witnessed one of the genre’s early scandals when Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt peed in her bathtub. She first entered the jungle camp in 2011. Her statement to RTL in the run-up to this year’s show, “I basically have no desire for people”, shows that she has internalized the mechanisms of the genre.
Hanka Rackwitz (55)
Hanka Rackwitz is one of the founding mothers of German reality TV – she took part in the container show “Big Brother” in 2000. She later worked in the real estate business and was part of the real estate show “rent, buy, live” on Vox. In the 2017 jungle camp, many viewers felt sorry for her because of her pronounced phobias, which are remembered. This time she told RTL that she was coping better with her compulsions and fears. However, she also said: “How am I? I’ve been sitting on the couch with my cat for six years – and now the jungle camp is coming.” She admitted to being “scared”.
Elena Miras (32)
Elena Miras became known through the dating and physical contact show “Love Island”, where she also met her later partner Mike Heiter (who took part in the jungle camp season in early 2024). Miras moved into the jungle in 2020 and sometimes made a name for herself as a loud, choleric person. One of her major issues was that there was a bottle mix-up. She doesn’t seem to have come to terms with that to this day: “The bottle issue was so present for me back then in the jungle. I think that cost me the victory,” she told RTL. She is no longer together with Mike Heiter.
Daniela Buechner (46)
Daniela “Danni” Büchner took part in the jungle camp in 2020 and still holds the record for the most jungle tests (12). As the widow of the former “Malle” camper Jens Büchner, she wanted to pay respect to her late husband by taking part, according to widespread reports. However, Büchner often caused friction and the mood was not good. Even the presenter duo asked viewers not to send the now 46-year-old to jungle tests anymore. Now she wants to show who she “really” is.
Eric Stehfest (35)
Eric Stehfest became known as an actor in the RTL soap “Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten” and for his uncompromising way of talking about his own story. His autobiography, in which he wrote about his experiences with crystal meth and previous drug problems, became a bestseller. In the 2022 jungle camp, he attracted attention by not taking part in a trial because he did not want to rebel against his fellow campers. He said he was not prepared to play for food with people who did not like him, which is something of a taboo in the values of reality TV.
Gigi Birofio was only in the jungle camp in 2023, but is already allowed back in. The reality TV star (“Ex on the Beach”) has a talent for making contacts with other participants and also putting some everyday philosophical pearls on the plate (“The way here didn’t just have one step, but a whole staircase”, “My English is still rubbish”). What was remembered was how he and fellow camper Cosimo couldn’t resist the tempting crunch of a pizza – to the chagrin of the other candidates.
In the 2023 season of RTL’s “Legends Jungle”, candidate Gigi Birofio caused a stir with his unique perspective and love of pizza and showed that even mixed experiences can lead to entertaining moments in the jungle.
In addition, the “mixed” group of RTL’s “Legends Jungle” consisted of people from different backgrounds, each bringing their own strengths and quirks to the jungle, resulting in an entertaining mix of personalities and challenges.
