Fifteen years of reality TV – and the lights still flare when Carmen and Robert Geiss step in front of the camera. On the occasion of their 15th TV anniversary, the self‑made millionaires sit down with their daughters Davina and Shania to revisit the very first shoot, seasick days on the yacht and moments when luxury suddenly didn’t matter at all. Old clips meet fresh commentary as the family opens up about growing up in the spotlight, dealing with criticism and turning chaos into entertainment. What began as a wild TV idea has become a long‑running family project that has accompanied a whole generation of viewers.
The sun hangs low over the Mediterranean, the yacht’s deck still glistening from the last rinse. A cameraman wipes his forehead, someone calls, 'Sound is rolling!'. Carmen Geiss turns once into the light, shakes out her blond mane and laughs, 'So, where’s the champagne today?'. Right then, a crew member pushes a huge cake into frame. Fifteen candles. Fifteen years on TV. Robert whistles approvingly, Davina and Shania gasp. The celebratory scene is done in one take – pure routine after a decade and a half in front of the lens.
Rewind to 2011. Back then, the Geissens recall, the whole thing felt more like an experiment. A small crew was supposed to follow Cologne‑born self‑made millionaire Robert Geiss, his wife Carmen and their two little girls through everyday life. 'We honestly thought it would last one, maybe two seasons, and that’s it,' Robert admits. Instead, 'Die Geissens – Eine schrecklich glamouröse Familie' turned into a cult franchise – and German living rooms became windows into a world of private jets, Monaco marinas and walk‑in closets stuffed with glittering shoes.
In the anniversary special, the very first scenes run again across the screen: Carmen, back then almost always in leopard print; the girls with pigtails and missing teeth; Robert with noticeably darker hair. Cut to the family today, watching themselves. 'Oh my God, did I really talk like that?', groans Davina hearing her childhood voice. Shania covers her face, laughing: 'Those outfits! Who dressed me?'
Few TV families in Germany have grown up as publicly as Davina and Shania. They speak frankly about what it’s like when your teenage years are essentially a TV season. There were days when they wanted to throw the camera overboard. And others when the crew felt more like a bunch of older siblings. Carmen remembers school debates at the breakfast table with everyone murmuring into hidden microphones. 'Do you ever forget the cameras?', asks the off‑screen interviewer. Shania pauses, then says, 'You don’t forget them – but you learn to stay yourself anyway.'
The family riffs through an internal highlight reel: the first driving licence, documented in high definition; the first big argument, suddenly watched by millions; the first tears because a schedule, an event, a nasty comment was simply too much. In between, Robert, who admits with a grin, 'We’ve often lived on the edge. Not just financially back in the day, but also in terms of energy. But without risk we would never have ended up here.'
Of course, no Geissens anniversary would be complete without the classic scenes fans have been sharing online for years. Robert in expensive sunglasses steering into the wrong harbour. Carmen in a designer outfit tripping in an Italian backyard and laughing so hard the mascara runs. A jet that can’t take off because one very important suitcase is missing. And the girls slowly taking charge, casually correcting the grown‑ups on screen.
The anniversary show weaves these clips together with today’s commentary. Where there was once only wide‑eyed amazement, there’s now a healthy dose of self‑irony. 'Yes, we know we totally overdo it sometimes,' Carmen laughs. 'But if you live a crazy life, you might as well show it properly.'
Rich, loud, over the top – that image clings to the family like glitter to Carmen’s evening gowns. But the retrospective also shows how thin the air can get when every detail of your life is dissected. Hate comments, headlines, mockery – all of that has followed the family just as faithfully as fan mail and selfie requests. 'You have to filter what really matters,' Davina explains. 'In the end it’s about us sticking together as a family, not about what someone anonymous writes online.'
Perhaps it’s exactly this mix of outrageous staging and unvarnished moments that has kept the format alive for 15 years. When Robert gets a bit too loud in an interview and Carmen gently tells him to calm down. When Shania puts her phone aside and admits that sometimes she just wants to be a normal girl. And when all four burst out laughing because they suddenly realise how absurd their everyday life sounds once an off‑voice starts to narrate it.
The end of the anniversary episode isn’t a big tearful goodbye – it’s a very Geissens kind of moment. The cake is half eaten, the candles are out, and Robert is already planning the next trip. 'We haven’t seen everything yet,' he says, mentally ticking off destinations while Carmen scrolls through old photos on her phone. Davina and Shania exchange a conspiratorial look – the next generation already plotting their own paths, from fashion and social media to projects in front of and behind the camera.
Will the Geissens do another 15 years? No one on deck has an answer. But one thing is clear: this family has shaped German reality TV like few others – with all their contradictions, their noise, their luxury and the quiet moments in between. And somewhere on a sun‑drenched deck, between cables, cameras and flutes of champagne, the next red recording light is already blinking.
