The game show gained great popularity in the German-speaking countries through the presenters Frank Elstner, who was also the creator, and Thomas Gottschalk in the 1980s and 1990s.

After that, especially due to the takeover of Markus Lanz, the audience ratings dropped significantly, which caused the discontinuation of the show in 2014.

[7] The core gimmick of the show was the bets: ordinary people offer to perform some unusual (often bizarre) and difficult tasks.

Some examples, all of which were performed successfully, include: The other major attraction of the show was the top-ranking celebrity guests, with considerable screen time given to the host greeting and chatting with them.

Each of the guests had to bet on the outcome of one of the performances and offer a wager, in recent years usually a humorous or mildly humiliating, originally more charitable, activity to be carried out if they lose.

Celebrities that have appeared on the show included a vast range of personalities, with repeated guests including the likes of Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz, Naomi Campbell, Michael Douglas, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Aniston, David Beckham, Hugh Grant, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Claudia Schiffer, Heidi Klum, Bill Gates, Karl Lagerfeld, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Gerhard Schröder.

Additionally, until 2001, members of the audience could offer bets against the host to find a certain number of unusual persons (e.g. 10 ladies over the age of 65 driving motorbikes).

Between the bets and the celebrity smalltalk, there were musical performances by top-ranking artists like Shania Twain, Johnny Cash, Phil Collins, Take That, Jennifer Lopez, Coldplay, OneRepublic, Rihanna, Spice Girls, Kiss, t.A.T.u., Whitney Houston, Katy Perry, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Anastacia, Avril Lavigne, Christina Stürmer, Bryan Adams, Shakira, Britney Spears, Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Meat Loaf, Elton John, Tokio Hotel, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Ashley Tisdale, Joe Cocker, Lady Gaga, Luciano Pavarotti, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Robert Plant, Status Quo, Leona Lewis, David Bowie, Bruno Mars, Cher, Tina Turner, and Michael Jackson.

Koch took on a challenge to jump over five moving cars of gradually increasing size using spring-loaded boots.

Koch's head hit the windshield and he landed on the studio floor, fracturing two cervical vertebrae and damaging his spinal cord.

[19] The 215th and last regular show was broadcast on 13 December 2014 from Nuremberg, with Samuel Koch – who never blamed Wetten, dass..?

On 28 July 2018, ZDF announced a one-evening revival of Wetten, dass..?, owing to the occasion of Gottschalk's upcoming 70th birthday (18 May 2020).

[22][23] The special became an instant ratings hit, scoring nearly 14 million views, prompting ZDF to consider a full comeback of the show.

In August 2024, ITV announced that the show would be returning for two 75-minute episodes later that year with Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby as hosts.

In 2006 and 2007 a Russian version was broadcast on the Channel One under the name Большой спор (Bolshoy Spor, literally A Big Betting).

The show was fronted by Ramón García, accompanied by Ana Obregón (1993–1998), Antonia Dell'Atte (1998–1999), and Raquel Navamuel and Mónica Martínez (2000).

In 2008, the Spanish federation of regional TV stations operating under the FORTA umbrella later recovered the format, hosted by Carlos Lozano and Rocío Madrid, but the revival was short lived and was swiftly axed due to low ratings and the high cost of producing the programme.

This is not the first time the show has been produced for American audiences; in 1993, CBS broadcast a pilot called Wanna Bet?, hosted by Mark McEwen, which was not picked up as a full series.