Celebrity fell into a trap

Tricked: Model as decoy in comedy show

The many faces of Christine Halwachs: Now she played the decoy.(Bild: Franz Weber)

Christine Halwachs from Burgenland had a lot to laugh about in the middle of a team of celebrities. As a decoy, she was part of a cunning secret plan to mislead actor Simon Schwarz in front of the hidden TV camera of "Verstehen Sie Spaß?

Christine Halwachs is used to making big appearances. Whether on the catwalk, at a fashion shoot or in an expert discussion - the courageous woman from Burgenland is an entrepreneur, actress, author and qualified psychological consultant. An invitation from Heidi Klum to GNTM ("Germany's Next Topmodel") is one of the highlights of her young life. Now the comedy show "Verstehen Sie Spaß?" with presenter Barbara Schöneberger provided a welcome change of pace.

Delighted with the role
"Even as a child, I used to watch this show with my grandma and my mom. So it was a very special pleasure for me to be asked if I would like to take part," she explains. Christine Halwachs promptly found herself among stage professionals such as Manuel Rubey, Daniela Spreitzhofer, Tommy Schmidle and Roman Bagner.

Manuel Rubey had the idea
Rubey wanted actor Simon Schwarz (53) to slip into a role that would make him smile for a long time to come - in keeping with the Rubey-Schwarz cabaret play "Das Restaurant". Both actors were to serve fine wines and much more as celebrity waiters at a dinner in an exclusive Viennese club bursting with luxury and glamor as part of "Daniela's" 30th birthday celebrations.

Precarious situation
As a climax, the birthday girl's boyfriend was supposed to jump out of a box to propose to his beloved. "It was all fake," reveals Halwachs. In front of a hidden camera, the birthday girl confessed her love for Simon Schwarz while the supposed groom was still in the surprise box.

Everyone had fun
"It was all fake, but a tricky situation for Simon! Only when the trick was uncovered did he laugh a lot," recalls Halwachs. "The task was not at all easy for our team. Simon is very intelligent and recognizes tricks very quickly. We had to be very careful for months so that he wouldn't find out about us," says Halwachs. In the end, it was great fun!

You can see how Simon Schwarz was tricked in the ORF media library. The broadcast on German television has been postponed due to the attack in Magdeburg. The program will be shown at a later date, but no date has been set yet.