Thomas Gottschalk has announced his permanent withdrawal from public life, declaring that no further television appearances or public engagements are planned in an interview with Bunte magazine.
The 76-year-old entertainer, who revealed in late November 2025 that he was battling an epithelioid angiosarcoma, currently considers himself cancer-free following two operations, 33 radiation sessions and a three-week rehabilitation programme. He cancelled a hosting engagement for the 'Goldener Ochsensepp' ceremony in Munich in May 2026 on health grounds, his last scheduled public commitment.
Gottschalk received the diagnosis approximately twelve months ago, around July 2025. The first of his two surgeries lasted seven hours and the second six hours. He continues to participate in a clinical study at the University Medicine Greifswald, receiving an injection every 14 days; eight of twelve planned treatments have now been completed.