Hallmark is bringing Yuletide joy to reality TV. At the TCA Summer Press Tour on Thursday, July 11, Hallmark announced that Jonathan Bennett will host the network’s first-ever reality competition series, Finding Mr. Christmas.
Filmed on a ranch in Utah, the upcoming series is a reality competition that will bring 10 hopeful actors together to compete in a variety of challenges “testing their acting skills and festive spirit,” according to Entertainment Weekly. The winner will earn the title of “Mr. Christmas” and land a leading role in a 2024 Hallmark Channel holiday movie. Reba and Haul out the Holly star Melissa Peterman will serve as judge, with Mean Girls star Bennett – who has appeared in Hallmark Channel movies like The Christmas House, The Christmas House 2, Wedding of a Lifetime, and The Holiday Sitter – hosting.
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“There are two types of people in the world. There are people that watch Hallmark movies and then there are liars,” Bennett said, per PEOPLE. “The idea for Finding Mr. Christmas … was sparked out of something that’s really happening in real life where people want to join the network, they want to be part of the family because they see how successful the brand is and how much people love the brand and they want to be in on the party. And so we thought, why not make a journey that people can watch on TV?”
Bennett also shared that the show will feature LGBTQ+ contestants because “I’m a Hallmark holiday hunk and I’m pretty freaking gay.” He added that the series is “building our next star because you’re going to be able to fall in love with our different contestants and watch their journey along the way.”
Finding Mr. Christmas was co-created by executive producer Ben Roy and will premiere this fall on the network’s revamped streaming platform, Hallmark+. The platform will launch in mid-September with the first movie trilogy told from a male point of view, The Groomsmen, starring Bennett, Tyler Hynes, and B.J. Britt.
During the TCA event, Hallmark also announced that it will premiere 40 new Christmas movies this year between its flagship and Hallmark Mystery channels. Other upcoming projects include Wes Brown, Luke Macfarlane, and Ashley Williams-hosted shows on Hallmark+.
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