Betting too high?

Stefan Raab is running out of steam in the follower race

Has Stefan Raab taken on too much? It seems unlikely that he will break the 9 million follower barrier by Monday.

(Bild: APA/dpa/Rolf Vennenbernd)

Nine million Instagram followers in three days - that was Stefan Raab's ambitious goal on Good Friday. If anyone can achieve that, it's probably the former "TV Total" presenter. But it seems that the 57-year-old has taken on a little too much ...

A 90-second clip caused a stir on Good Friday. The reason: after almost six years of Instagram radio silence, Stefan Raab showed signs of life again for the first time. 

Raab hints at a comeback
And what a comeback! After all, the entertainer promised his former show intern in the video, which shows him - mainly from behind - fishing at a lonely mountain lake, that if he reaches the 9 million follower mark within three days, he will "do something again". 

Raab, who dreamed of a career as an influencer à la Pamela Reif in the clip, left open what this possible comeback might look like. Likewise, whether it could possibly just be an April Fool's joke - after all, the deadline ends on April 1 of all days.

Raab may have gambled too high
Whether it was calculated or not, at the moment it looks as if Raab has gambled too high anyway. The entertainer, who withdrew from the public eye in 2015 and has only been pulling the TV strings in the background since then, gained plenty of new followers within the first day.

Stefan Raab was an integral part of the TV world for many years, hosting TV Total and the Wok World Championships. He retired from the public eye at the end of 2015.

(Bild: APA/dpa-Zentralbild/Martin Schutt)

However, with 2.7 million followers on Sunday afternoon, he is still quite a way off his ambitious goal. Will he be able to reach the missing 6.3 million followers by Monday? Rather unlikely!

Comeback never planned?
If you believe the "Bild" newspaper, a real TV comeback for Raab was never planned anyway, despite the Instagram clip. According to the newspaper, the jack-of-all-trades will continue to work in the background as a producer and creative mind for the formats of his new company "Raab Entertainment". 

Raab retired from Brainpool and the associated production company Raab TV at the end of 2023. The 57-year-old founded the new project "Raab Entertainment" with ex-ProSieben boss Daniel Rosemann.

According to "Bild", the first "Raab Entertainment" project is already in the starting blocks: the soccer show "Das RTL-Studio - Alle Spiele, Tore, Emotionen", in which jungle camp presenter Jan Köppen and Raab buddy Elton will report on the highlights of the European Football Championship in Germany this summer.