Matthias Opdenhövel

Matthias Augustinus Wilhelm Georg Opdenhövel is a German television presenter and journalist. Born on 25 August 1970 in Detmold, Germany, he has established a long-standing career across major German television networks, including ARD, Sat.1, ProSieben, VIVA Germany, VOX, WDR, RTL Zwei, and Sport1.

Opdenhövel began his television presenting career in the late 1990s following his work as a journalist. Between 1997 and 1998, he co-hosted the RTL Zwei program Bitte lächeln alongside Aleksandra Bechtel. Shortly thereafter, from 1998 to 2003, he presented the Sat.1 morning show Frühstücksfernsehen Weck Up together with Barbara Schöneberger. During this early period, he also hosted programs such as Eins Live TV on WDR Fernsehen and the music game show Hast du Töne? on VOX.

Throughout the 2000s, Opdenhövel became widely recognized for hosting a variety of high-profile entertainment formats on ProSieben. He presented major event shows and specials associated with TV total, including Das große Ochsenrennen, Die TV total Wok-WM, Das große TV total Turmspringen, and various Autoball events. Between 2006 and 2011, he hosted the popular competition show Schlag den Raab. He also presented political event specials, such as the TV total Bundestagswahl broadcasts in 2005 and 2009, as well as the game show Wipe out – Heul nicht, lauf! in 2009.

In addition to general entertainment, Opdenhövel frequently hosted music competitions and prime-time events. In 2010, he co-hosted the music contest Unser Star für Oslo alongside coverage for the ECHO 2010 awards on Das Erste. He followed this with Unser Song für Deutschland and Eurovision Total in 2011. His work on Das Erste expanded into numerous game shows and specials, including Brot und Spiele, Opdenhövels Countdown, Die Show der unglaublichen Helden, and Rate mal, wie alt ich bin.

Opdenhövel has also been heavily involved in sports broadcasting. He presented Bundesliga football coverage for Arena and LIGA total!, as well as Spieltaganalyse on Sport1. From 2011 to 2021, he served as a primary presenter for ARD's Sportschau, covering major international events such as the 2012 UEFA European Championship alongside pundit Mehmet Scholl, the 2014 Winter Olympics, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In 2021, he rejoined Sat.1 to present its sports brand ran.

In more recent years, Opdenhövel has presented formats such as The Masked Singer on ProSieben starting in 2019, Zervakis & Opdenhövel.Live with Linda Zervakis from 2021 to 2023, The Masked Dancer in 2022, and returned to host Schlag den Star, Hast du Töne?, and The Floor in 2024.

Over the course of his career, Opdenhövel has received several prominent accolades. He won the Deutscher Fernsehpreis in 2007 for Schlag den Raab, in 2010 for Unser Star für Oslo, and in 2012 for best sports broadcast covering UEFA Euro 2012. He was also awarded the Goldene Kamera in 2008 and the Deutscher Sportjournalistenpreis in 2015. Aside from broadcasting, he authored the 1998 book Die Schnellficker-Schuhe und andere Geschichten and co-authored Flipflops, iPod, Currywurst in 2012. He is married with two sons and resides in Cologne.