Bradford Anderson (L) backs out of return to General Hospital, to take role on Showtime’s Homeland. Blake Berris (R) to fill the Spinelli role on GH. (Photos: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.)

General Hospital veteran Bradford Anderson who originated the role of quirky tech genius, Damien Spinelli, on ABC’s General Hospital in 2006, opted to go off-contract in May of 2013, but recurred on the soap through the end of that year. Since then, when Spinelli needed to get Maxie (Kirsten Storms) out of (and sometimes into) trouble, Anderson would return to Port Charles and the ABC soap, as his schedule allowed.

Anderson was supposed to come back to GH for a handful of upcoming episodes, when he landed a role on the Homeland TV show, on Showtime. Since he is no longer on contract, the actor — who left daytime to spread his wings — chose the Homeland gig. Because of all this, General Hospital is temporarily filling the Spinelli role with Days of Our Lives alum, Blake Berris. And boy, some soap fans are in a fit of pique over the recast.

Blake Berris to Replace Bradford Anderson as Damien Spinelli on General Hospital

When GH fans heard the former DOOL star was taking over as Spinelli, there was a bit of an outcry. Perhaps because Berris has plenty of experience with daytime fans, thanks to his stint as Nick Fallon, he reached out on social media, to quell their concerns.

Ferris posted, “For @GeneralHospital fans. Would never try 2 replicate the reputed @BfordAnderson. Will b a dif take on #spinelli. And only a few eps.”

for @GeneralHospital fans. would never try 2 replicate the reputed @BfordAnderson. will b a dif take on #spinelli. and only a few eps.

— Blake Berris (@BlakeBerris) December 26, 2016

Bradford Anderson Explains Why He Is Not Returning as Spinelli on General Hospital

In addition, Anderson too used social media to placate fans. The gentlemanly New Hampshire native made sure to take the lion’s share of the blame for the Spinelli switcherooo. The actor posted on Facebook:

PLEASE READ! SHARE ETC..
Hey all! So I’m appearing in a couple episodes of the upcoming season of Homeland on Showtime! It’s a show that I’ve watched and loved since it began, so to be working on it is pretty exciting. The unfortunate part is that it conflicted with some episodes of GH that I was supposed to do, and I had to back out of those episodes. To make it even worse, it all happened last minute. I put GH in a very difficult position and for that I am incredibly sorry.

GH took whatever steps they needed to proceed without me. My plea to you is to be compassionate, understanding, and appreciative of whatever decisions they made. If anything looks or sounds different than you’re used to, understand that it’s because of a decision that I made. The situation was created by ME.
I know some might rush to negativity, but I’d like to urge everyone to think about how unique our genre is, and how soaps truly embody the spirit of “the show must go on”. To give you an idea of hard GH had to work, they learned on a Friday that I wouldn’t be there to film on Monday. Imagine having to find an actor to play Spin in an important storyline, OVER A WEEKEND. And just wait til you see who they found… The perfect choice. I for one can’t wait to watch.

I’d like to apologize to everyone at GH and thank them for being understanding of my predicament.

SO thank you all for your continued support of me, for sending as much positivity to GH and it’s actors…and for WATCHING!!

Love and thanks,
Bradford

Soap Fans React to Bradford Anderson Skipping General Hospital for Homeland Role

While this writer won’t out anyone, I did happen upon some disgruntled General Hospital fans who are under the impression that Bradford Anderson has somehow done GH wrong. In short: I don’t think he has.

Some of this confusion is coming from fans who seem to believe that Anderson is on recurring status with the ABC soap opera. He is not.

Anderson has returned as Spinelli to General Hospital, a few times since his exit. As I understand, when he has done so, it has been on a daily basis. I believe GH could have cancelled on him in the last minute, as well.

Berris’s episodes of General Hospital should air on ABC sometime in January. Meanwhile, Homeland, season six, premieres on Showtime on Sunday, January 15th. While Anderson will reportedly be in multiple episodes, we do not yet know which ones.

What do you think? Are you a General Hospital fan? Will you tune in to watch Blake Berris play Spinelli? Do you blame Brad Anderson for choosing Homeland over GH? Let us know, below.