Ferry Doedens Responds to 'GTST' Firing: Working Hard to Get Drug Problem Under Control

Ferry Doedens

Ferry Doedens was fired from Dutch soap opera Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden (Good Times, Bad Times) last week, reportedly due to him causing production delays. The popular actor, who has played Lucas Sanders on the show since 2009, has now admitted he has a drug problem and is seeking help.

Below is a statement released by Doedens:

"In the previous period I haven't been able to function well because of a drugs problem. Right now I'm working hard to get my drugs problem and the behavior that comes with it under control. I had a major confrontation with myself and I'm very sad about that. I regret a lot of things and right now I'm trying to do everything I can so I will be able to look myself and the people around me in the eyes again. I hope people will let me have the time to get out of this situation in a good and positive way."

Doedens guest-starred on American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful last fall when the show shot on location in Amsterdam.

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Ferry Doedens Fired From Dutch Soap 'Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden'

Ferry Doedens

Ferry Doedens has been fired from popular Dutch soap opera Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden (Good Times, Bad Times), by the show's production company, Endemol.

Ferry Doedens, who has played Lucas Sanders since 2009, will be off the air by Christmas.

According to RTL, Endemol let Doedens go because of his repeated failure to meet production agreements, disrupting taping of GTST repeatedly.

Marjolein Keuning, who plays Lucas' aunt Maxime Sanders, was shocked by the decision, telling RTL, "I tried to call him. He is a fantastic fellow. Always cheerful. He is truly a treasure. Has made ​​groundbreaking scenes. We will certainly miss him."

Doedens guest-starred on American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful last fall when the show shot on location in Amsterdam.

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- Backstreet Boys to Perform at GTST’s Big Gay Wedding

"Like Sands Through the Hourglass" On Dutch Soap Opera 'Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden'

Last week on an episode of Dutch soap opera Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden (Good Times, Bad Times), the character of Anna Brandt (Barbara Sloesen) was sitting on her sofa flipping through the TV channels when suddenly viewers heard the voice of longtime Days of our Lives patriarch Macdonald Carey (Dr. Tom Horton) saying, "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." It was a fun surprise, especially since Days no longer airs on Dutch TV. Watch the clip below (with Carey's voice heard at the 1:28 mark):

Backstreet Boys to Perform at GTST’s Big Gay Wedding

Friday, January 24 is going to be a special day in Meerdijk, the fictional town where Dutch soap GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN (GTST) is set. On that day Lucas Sanders (Ferry Doedens) and Menno Kuiper (Dave Mantel) will get married. It will be the first gay wedding on the show, but that is not the only reason why it's special.

The Backstreet Boys will perform their song "Show 'em (What You're Made Of)" at the wedding party.

WATCH: GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN Season Finale

Last Friday the season finale of Dutch soap GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN (Good times, bad times) aired. It was the highest-rated finale in 11 years wtih 1.822 million viewers.

We Love Soaps contributor Mark Knoop wrote a summary of the episode:

An important day is getting close: Rik and Nuran are getting married. To celebrate this 'big jump' Maxime organizes a bachelor party. With a group of friends they're going to make a parachute jump. They're busy with training and preparations, but the atmosphere in the group is getting more and more grim because of the different conflicts.

Song From Dutch Soap GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN Now An iTunes Hit

Dutch soap opera GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN is responsible for an iTunes hit in the Netherlands. "With You" by singer/songwriter Matt Simons was used in an episode a couple of weeks ago and is now a hit on iTunes (currently at number 3 in the Dutch iTunes chart). Simons found out about it when one of his friends posted the clip on his Facebook wall.

Simons: "He said 'Did you know your song is on this TV show?' And I had no idea. It changed my life overnight. You know, I was just a musician living in New York playing gigs around town and now I'm here."

Today Simons was in Amsterdam to film a cameo appearance on the show.

Dutch Channel RTL5 Launches New Soap Opera

Dutch channel RTL5 is launching a new soap opera in The Netherlands. The show's title is MALAIKA (Swahili for "angel") and will revolve around young people working in health care. RTL5 has ordered 50 episodes and will start airing them on March 25. This means that GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN (airing on RTL4) is no longer the only soap opera in The Netherlands.

Today in Soap Opera History (October 4)

On this date in...

1967: On DARK SHADOWS, Barnabas took Burke and Dr. Woodard down into the basement where they found no coffin.

1990: BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 premiered on FOX. The show aired its final episode on May 17, 2000.

1990: On GUIDING LIGHT, Rick and Beth received a shock.

AMC's Bianca & Reese Pop Up On Dutch Soap GTST

ALL MY CHILDREN's Bianca (Eden Riegel) and Reese (Tamara Braun) were seen on Dutch soap opera GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN on Friday, on a marriage equality brochure. GTST fan and We Love Soaps contributor Mark offers us a recap:

Nuran Baydar (played by Toprak Yalçiner) and Rik de Jong (played by Ferri Somogyi) have feelings for each other. But because Rik isn't muslim Nuran feels like she can't be in a relationship with him. Both of them have started dating other people and both of them are rushing into marriage. Rik with Yvon Terstal (played by Terence Schreurs) and Nuran with Bilal Demir (played by Sinan Eroglu). Especially that last marriage is doomed because Bilal is actually gay.

NEWS ROUNDUP: B&B's Brad Bell On Lesbian Storyline & Rick! Plus, Maurice Benard, Susan Lucci, Kelly Ripa

B&B's Brad Bell says lesbian story will return, Rick is the new Ridge
"Joanna will definitely be back, if only for a day or two here and there," says Bell. "And once her [EMILY OWENS] schedule backs off a bit I want her back for something meaty. We may not see Karen for the time being but we'll play her as if she's still around and that she and Dani are still a happy couple. [Laughs] I'm not going to have Dani go off and seduce one of our guys."

"Rick is a young man sick of sitting on the sidelines and will finally come into his own," says Bell. "He'll become a passionate, sexy, driving force of the show, making a strategic play for Caroline [Linsey Godfrey] and going after Ridge's position as head of Forrester Creations."

TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING: "Who Is Tim?" App

On July 6 Dutch soap GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN went off the air for its summer break.  But RTL Netherlands has published the "Wie is Tim?" ("Who is Tim?") app to tide over the fans during the summer until the new season starts on September 3.

The "Who is Tim?" app is about a new character on the show, the mysterious Tim Loderus (played by Beau Schneider). Users will find out more about Tim with the help of handwritten notes, videos, games and hidden content. Users need passwords to unlock that hidden content. Those passwords can be found everywhere: on TV, in newspapers and on advertisement posters at bus stops. Twitter and Facebook also play an important role during this project. It's a form of transmedia storytelling.

ANNIVERSARY: GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN (GTST) Celebrates 4,500 Episodes

Dutch soap opera GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN has a celebration this week: RTL4 will air the show's 4,500th episode on Friday, June 1.

The episode will revolve around Ludo Sanders and Janine Elschot, the show's most well-known couple. They're played by Erik de Vogel and Caroline de Bruijn who are also a couple in real life (they fell in love on set). Ludo and Janine are planning to get married on Friday (their third marriage) but whether they actually tie the knot remains to be seen.

Olga Madsen Has Died at Age 64

Olga Madsen, who is seen as the mother of the Dutch soap operas, has died at the age of 64. When producer Joop van den Ende bought the rights of the Australian soap opera THE RESTLESS YEARS it was up to Olga Madsen to turn it into a Dutch version. That resulted in the Netherlands' number one soap opera GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN. The first episode of that show aired on October 1, 1990. The show is still very popular today. Because of GTST's success Olga Madsen was also involved in starting up the soap operas ONDERWEG NAAR MORGEN (canceled in 2009) and GOUDKUST (canceled in 2000).

CASTING NEWS: More Color in GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN

It’s been known for a while that Lieke van Lexmond and Jan Kooijman are leaving GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN later this season. How they’re leaving is still a secret, but now we do know who’s going to replace them. Turkish actresses Dilan Yurdakul (21) and Toprak Yalçiner (24), pictured here with executive producer Kennard Bos, are going to play the sisters Aysen and Nuran Baydar.

TRENDING: Twitter's Most Talked About Topics Include GTST (Worldwide) & Brody (United States)

Who says soap operas are not trendy? During Monday's episode of GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN the show became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter with the hashtag #GTST and the character name "Sjoerd".

The show and characters are often trending topics in the Netherlands when major things are happening, but I believe this is the first time that the show is also a worldwide trending topic.

MEMORABLE: Lucas and Edwin's First Time on GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN

During the 46th GOUDEN TELEVIZIER-RING GALA (a Dutch television award show) a top ten of most memorable TV moments of the past year was announced. Number 10 came from soap opera GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN. It's the February 23, 2011 episode where Lucas Sanders (Ferry Doedens) and Edwin Bouwhuis (Raynor Arkenbout) sleep together for the first time.

EXIT: Jan Kooijman Leaves GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN

Actor Jan Kooijman is going to leave the Dutch soap opera GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN. Jan debuted on the show in February 2009 as Danny de Jong. Quickly the actor became very popular. On December 23 he will film his last scenes. Fans will have to say goodbye to Danny de Jong at the beginning of March 2012.

Apart from GTST Jan is also one of the judges on the Dutch/Flemish version of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (Jan was a professional dancer).

Today in Soap Opera History (October 4)

On this date in...

1990: BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 premiered on FOX. The show aired its final episode on May 17, 2000.

2007: The first season finale of GENERAL HOSPITAL: NIGHT SHIFT aired on SOAPnet.

EXIT: Elly de Graaf (Rosa Gonzalez) Has Left GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN

Actress Elly de Graaf has left Dutch soap opera GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN. In 2000 she started playing the role of Rosa Gonzalez, the housekeeper of the Sanders family. Now, 11 years later, Rosa has passed away in the arms of her daughter Lorena. The character was never part of the permanent cast, she often only had one or two lines and sometimes you wouldn't see her for weeks. But fans loved her. This became clear when several trending topics on Twitter were related to Rosa. The hashtag #rosa was actually still a trending topic the following morning. The episode was number 1 in the ratings top 25 with 1.620.000 viewers.

NEW SEASON: GTST Returns With Strong Ratings

Last night the first episode of Season 22 of GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN aired on RTL4 in the Netherlands. The episode had 1,603,000 viewers and was at #3 in the daily ratings top 25 of Stichting Kijkonderzoek (Viewing Research Organization). The show had a market share of 28,5% in the target group 20-49.

A spokeswoman of RTL: "The 4,500 fans who got to see the episode during the successful GTST Live event kept things exciting for the rest of the Netherlands. Nothing leaked out."