Zum Scheitern Verurteilt · Laura Larsson & Simon Dömer

Ist Simon noch Single?

·1 hr 12 min·6 clips

A store employee congratulated Simon on his podcast with Barbie, making him wonder if the guy was gay and interested.

1. German podcast Zum Scheitern Verurteilt hosts Simon and Laura record an episode dedicated to answering the question listeners have been asking: is Simon still single? 2. Simon Dömer is the storytelling subject; Laura acts as interviewer, analyst, and audience proxy throughout. 3. The episode's throughline is Simon's account of a romantic interest that developed over roughly seven months, beginning with a shop employee encounter in Berlin in July 2025. 4. Laura opens by noting that Simon went to his home town Brudersdorf for Easter but not Christmas, posted a train-station photo with an unidentified photographer, and has told no dating stories for months. 5. A 23-year-old podcast listener approached Laura in a pub to ask who is currently in Simon's life; Laura told her she could not answer yet. 6. Simon frames the story starting in late July 2025, when he was invited to a premiere in Munich for a series where he had his first acting role, and went shopping alone at a clothing store near his subway station. 7. In the store, a shop employee recognized Simon and said 'congratulations on the podcast with Barbie' — Simon's immediate reaction was that mentioning the Barbie podcast rather than co-host Laura meant the employee must be gay. 8. Simon asked whether the T-shirt he liked was available in XXL; the employee offered to check online orders; Simon left with the T-shirt transaction incomplete but the employee's face in his head. 9. Within minutes Simon found the employee on Instagram using mutual connections, including Barbie and a gay friend; the employee followed Barbie and the Doppelmaus podcast but not Simon. 10. Simon describes weeks of checking the profile without following back, ordering clothing items online from the store specifically to have a reason to return and pick them up in person. 11. In August 2025, on a self-organized 'yes day' — iced blueberry matcha, solo lunch, museum visit, Dussmann bookshop — Simon walked into the store with no purchase pretense and showed the employee all the books he had bought, including Blue Days with a lesbian storyline. 12. Laura calls this 'an absolute power move' and 'a term of courage,' saying she could never have done the same thing without a pretext. 13. Simon describes the pattern continuing through September: telling friends before an Italy trip that 'there's a guy I flirt with' at the store, showing the employee a new backpack purchased elsewhere, the employee offering a discount for Simon's frequent purchases. 14. Simon was in Italy for a week and says he did not think about the employee once, suggesting early emotional detachment. 15. In October 2025, after approximately two and a half months from their first encounter, the employee followed Simon on Instagram; Simon immediately followed back and sent a message that read only 'greetings,' receiving 'yes, yes' in return. 16. Simon notes listeners have already found the profile and asks them not to follow or contact the person. 17. In November 2025, Simon visited New York City; he bought multiple pairs of pants at the store specifically to seem like a legitimate customer and turned down the employee's repeated offers of a discount. 18. After returning from New York, Simon slid into the DMs again using a shared OKLU concert story as a bridge, which led to the first real DM exchange and a December holiday-season conversation. 19. In January 2026, during a snowy Berlin conversation at the store about New Year's resolutions, Simon mentioned spinning classes and the employee expressed interest in coming along — though neither explicitly extended an invitation. 20. The episode ends without resolving whether Simon and the employee have formally dated; listeners are left knowing a real connection exists but its current state is withheld.

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