Bartho Braat is one of the most famous former actors of Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden. He has starred in the soap opera for years and now he follows it from the sidelines. “Is it going to stop?”
There has been a lot of noise about Good Times Bad Times for years. The soap opera was once a mega hit with more than 2 million viewers per episode, but nowadays there are less than half that number – even including delayed viewing. Moreover, you may wonder whether this should be shown every evening at eight o’clock on an adult TV channel such as RTL 4.
What does Bartho say?
Critics speculate that GTST has had its day and will eventually move to Videoland, with, for example, a daily TV broadcast on the smaller RTL 5. Is the series coming to an end?
GTST icon Bartho Braat doesn’t think so. He says in the Weekend: “Ha! Ten or fifteen years ago people also said: ‘It is becoming too expensive, the viewing figures are declining’, or whatever. Every so often that story comes back, it should end at some point. As long as enough people watch it, I think it will continue to exist.”
Nonsense
It is nonsense that GTST no longer has any significant role, says Bartho. “I am still approached every day by people who still watch it. It would be very stupid to take that program off the air. I think it’s all nonsense, to be honest.”
Now that the viewing figures have halved, you may wonder whether the soap has become too expensive. “It is nonsense to say that it is all becoming too expensive, because over the years they must have earned millions from GTST.”
Ludo and Janine
While Bartho has been away from the soap set for years, veterans Ludo and Janine are still there. The actors behind those characters, Erik de Vogel and Caroline de Bruijn, live in a large villa in Amstelveen. “There are two of them, so they have double the salary.”
Did Bartho also become rich from it? “No, it didn’t make me a millionaire, but I did make a decent amount of money and I also live in a big house.”