- Thorsten Legat is going to be the penis hero at camp.
At the exclusive premiere on RTL+, the launch of "Showdown of the Jungle Legends" on Thursday evening (and on Friday at 20:15 on RTL) got off to a turbulent and rather crazy start. A total of 13 former participants of the cult reality show were chosen to prove in this summer's "Allstar" special that they still have their trash TV skills.
However, the aging jungle veterans' pretense of wanting to "do things differently this time" to create the most peaceful camp ever quickly proved to be a pious wish. Especially the candidate who set out with the declared goal of bringing "love and harmony" to the camper community ended up causing arguments, shouting - and a mutiny.
These "Jungle Legends" are taking part
Among the invited trash icons of the summer camp are former "GNTM" candidate Sarah "Dingens" Knappik (37), TV nerve-wracker and former Bachelor candidate Georgina Fleur (34), part-time DJ and model Giulia Siegel (49), cinema veteran Winfried Glatzeder (79), cult moderator Mola Adebisi (51), former "Köln 50667" hunk David Ortega (38), former football pro Thorsten Legat (55), reality veteran Kader Loth (51), former TV real estate agent Hanka Rackwitz (55), TV emigrant Daniela "Danni" Büscher (46), "GZSZ" star Eric Stehfest (35), TV Casanova Gigi Birofio (25), and Swiss reality diva Elena Miras (32).
Reality diva Ela Miras is absent without excuse
However, only 12 of the jungle legends showed up for the summer camp's launch. Elena Miras was absent without excuse, but is reportedly set to join the rest of the group at a later point. Jan Köppen (41), who has been co-hosting the format with Sonja Zietlow (56) since early 2023, was only seen in the later-produced commentary sequences with his colleague. Zietlow had to handle the entire welcoming ceremony and jungle trials alone, as Köppen was in bed with a fever during the recordings.
All "Allstars" were reintroduced in great detail at the beginning of the spectacle and had the opportunity to talk at length about their current lives and the goals they had set for their jungle comeback. Naturally, all of them claimed to have learned from their sometimes outrageous past and their last jungle trip. Thorsten "Kasalla" Legat presented himself as a hands-on people reader and mentor, Georgina Fleur insisted that she had finally grown up, and the noticeably slimmer Danni Büscher vowed to keep her nerves in check and shout less this time.
Enlightened David Ortega appears in hermit look
David Ortega, the former TV heartthrob who was in the tenth season in 2016 and was the first to be voted out, also returned with demonstrative good intentions. Since his last jungle visit, the reality star has undergone a complete physical transformation and appeared with a shaggy mane, a long braided beard, and a worn-out denim shirt. "I'm not the groomed eyebrows type anymore," Ortega said, adding that he had learned a lot personally in recent years and had also found his faith.
It's all about love for him now, which he also wants to spread among his comrades. "I'm a big peace politician," said the jungle veteran. "Deep psychology is also my thing." That this is obviously not entirely in line with reality, the eccentric reality icon would later impressively prove.
Peace, joy, and pancakes on the way to camp
The participants made their way to camp in two groups, collecting stars along the way for dinner through rather unspectacular challenges (such as transporting buoys across the river using a cable car, or a tricky "jungle express" star hunt). The first stirrings of trouble came when veteran Winfried Glatzeder ("I'm just leftover rubbish on the heap of an old generation") couldn't get up from the ground without help.
Upon arrival at the spartan camp, all jungle legends began to suspect that life with the great "peace politician" David Ortega wouldn't be easy. Declaring himself a "feminist," Ortega didn't consider letting the ladies choose their beds first. Gigi Birofio quickly summed it up: "This is just the calm before the storm." Plus, David is "a really weird guy who lives on his own planet" - which seems to be true.
The next morning, Ortega took on the wake-up duty, trying to engage the still-sleeping candidates in deep conversations about their birthplaces and school graduations. The crumpled campers set off for their first real jungle trial, grumbling about the lack of breakfast...
Disgusting breakfast at the "Let's Kredenz" restaurant
Sonja Zietlow served her charges at the jungle restaurant "Let's Kredenz" a selection of delicacies they won't forget anytime soon. Gigi and Sarah Knappig started with "Greek Slime" - puréed goat stomach with fly decoction. To everyone's surprise, Knappig proved to be the real hero, downing three cups of the revolting concoction in 90 seconds, while macho Gigi could only manage a single sip before gagging.
Thorsten Legat and Giulia Siegel had it the other way around, with 25 centimeters of waterbuck penis on the menu under the slogan "Just quickly grease the sausage." Giulia only had to cut the penis, commenting, "Ugh, cutting a penis is something very unpleasant, it's something I don't like to do..." Legat, however, managed to eat the entire penis within the given time, despite choking on a piece at the end. The two stars they won were more important than the near-disaster.
The final Eklat of the show was once again introduced by David Ortega, who, along with Kader Loth, was served five small lamb brains under the motto "Beyond Disgust". At the sight of the dish, he was immediately out of the breakfast number. Referring to the biblical 10 commandments ("You shall not kill"), he left Kader to eat the brains, which she also failed to do despite her enthusiastic comment "Will I be smarter afterwards?"
After the conquered disgust breakfast, the nerves of all involved were finally completely bare. David Ortega, who had been appointed team leader that morning as a successor to Mola Adebisi, launched into a shrill shouting attack in front of the assembled team, accusing all the other campers of bullying him and not taking him seriously. "You're wrong, wrong, wrong," the man with the bushy beard shouted. "It's about peace, yes. And you've been bullying me here all the time. And Thorsten is the worst of all."
Mutiny in the jungle camp - Captain Ortega temporarily deposed
Soon, this dispute drove tears to Giulia Siegel's eyes, Eric Stehfest withdrew, "because otherwise my psyche will play crazy again" and Winfried Glatzeder showed his middle finger. At the height of this less-than-legendary showdown, the team decided to mutiny and unanimously deposed "Team Captain" Ortega. Which he, of course, did not want to sit still with. With many words, he pushed through with Mola, who had been reinstated, to regain his "title".
Dark prospects for the next episode with "ticking time bomb"
The official final word was then spoken by Kader Loth: "David is like a ticking time bomb. He's very loud when something doesn't please him... he just explodes." How it will continue with the self-proclaimed "peace politician" in the next episode remains to be seen. That he will end up winning the jungle crown is considered extremely unlikely. Not least because in this extra season, it is not the audience, but the candidates themselves who decide who has to leave the camp.
The remaining 16 episodes of the Allstar season will be shown daily on RTL from 20:15. The episodes are already available for streaming on RTL+ one day earlier.
Despite his claims of spreading love and harmony, David Ortega's unusual behavior caused friction in the camp. He challenged the tradition of letting ladies choose their beds first, leading to tension. Later, his early morning deep conversations and unexpected food preferences further fueled disagreements, eventually leading to a mutiny among the participants.
Recognizing his escalating behavior, Kader Loth described David as a "ticking time bomb," expecting further disruptions in the upcoming episodes.
