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Sophie Declerck’s reasoning is simple. “The soap is called family and the family that matters are the Van den Bossches. Peter is the most important Van den Bossche and you can’t just take that away. Characters that are present from the very beginning carry the story. Peter is also the man anyone can turn to with his problems. For the fans, Peter Van den Bossche is really family.”
Rejuvenation is the argument with which the makers of family screens. “I can understand that to some extent,” Sophie says. “But you don’t do that at the expense of elemental and popular characters.” It was recently announced that the characters played by Ludo Hellinx and Hilde Van Haesendonck will also disappear from the series. “In themselves these are not Van den Bossches, but the additional layoffs only increase the dissatisfaction among the fans. It seems as if they are making it into a youth series on Ketnet. So we will not accept that.”
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Sophie has been allowed to make her appearance a few times as an extra in recent years family. “Then you also meet actors and you start to empathize with them even more.” According to Sophie, the role of Peter Van den Bossche is certainly not finished. She shakes up some possible storylines. “His girlfriend is pregnant. Perhaps the baby could be a crybaby who is chasing the parents. At the time, Bert Van den Bossche left for China for a face transplant.”
“Played by another actor, it could return. The periods that Peter Van den Bossche faced the big bad guys As fans, we were all excited to follow. For the character Marie-Rose, there are also possibilities in the field of love that can cause great tensions.” The belief in the screenwriters has been under fire for some time among diehard fans. “Sometimes I feel like today’s writers don’t know what happened in the past.”
The protest group on Facebook already has more than 10,300 members. — © Marc Peeters
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According to Sophie, the fact that the Facebook page ‘We demand that Gunther Levi and Martine Jonckheere stay with Family’ shows that the protest is general. Also Davy Gilles, Gunther’s colleague at the Romeo’s and ex-actor at family, has become a member.” Sophie shows a message from Martine Jonckheere.
“I so desperately want the opportunity to become the combative Marie-Rose of the past and not just the granny who makes sweets and bakes cakes,” the actress wrote. “That’s not only boring for me to play but also boring for the audience to watch. Hopefully you will help me in my struggle to convince my bosses that I am worth more than this.”
Sophie is convinced that the battle is not over yet. She herself has stopped watching in protest. “In the past, under pressure from disgruntled fans, scenarios to move Anna and Albert permanently to Benidorm, for example, were adjusted later. The discontent today is much greater than then. VTM cannot remain insensitive to this.” The superfan also does not want to stop at protest on social media.
“We have already planned a campaign at the VTM buildings in Antwerp. We canceled that because we had been promised a meeting. I am currently waiting for the specific invitation. If not, there will be resistance. In Antwerp, in Vilvoorde or at the studios in Lint. We’ll see. I am willing to chain myself to the gate, so to speak, until the decision to proceed without Peter and Marie-Rose is reconsidered.”
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