Overview

• The actor, 33, entered the Sat.1 premiere live on October 6 after waiting in a hotel, joining a cast that partly moved in days earlier off‑air.
• He was detained in Hamburg in June on a European warrant, extradited to Austria, released on bail, and the proceedings ended with a fine; the disputed hotel bill was about €14,000.
• His mother, Natascha Ochsenknecht, addressed the saga from the studio audience with a pointed joke and said the detention was a shock for her.
• Hosts Jochen Schropp and Marlene Lufen wove the legal backstory into the broadcast, with Lufen quipping that the show would pick up his hotel tab.
• This season splits contestants between a luxury apartment for Désirée Nick and Harald Glööckler and a harsher ‘Rohbau,’ setting the scene for his stay; before entering, he said he is single and plans to leave single.