By Miriam Schmidt

Berlin - Entertainer Thomas Gottschalk has announced the end of his career as a Saturday night TV entertainer.

"I'll be 75 next Sunday (May 18) and that's the point for a presenter where you should say you're taking yourself out," said the 74-year-old in the RTL show "Denn sie wissen nicht, was passiert" with Barbara Schöneberger (51) and Günther Jauch (68), looking to his future.

"I have been in charge of Saturday evening for 35 years," said Gottschalk, followed by applause from the studio audience. However, he had always emphasized that when the day came that he was older than the Pope, he would have to call it a day - and the newly elected pontiff Leo XIV is 69 years old.

However, the TV veteran agreed to appear again in a farewell show at the beginning of December.

Gottschalk is one of the most successful show hosts on German television. He hosted the classic ZDF show "Wetten, dass...?" for years.

Most recently, he was regularly seen on RTL on Saturday evenings with Jauch and Schöneberger, among others. He has also been very present on German television with other shows on various channels in recent years.