The Big Picture

Hallmark premieres first reality competition
Finding Mr. Christmas
for new leading man.
Jonathan Bennett’s innovative show aims to add fresh talent to Hallmark roster.
The contestants compete with kindness and heart, changing the face of reality TV.

Ever wondered what it takes to be a Hallmark leading man? Jonathan Bennett, who’s starred in multiple Hallmark movies, knows exactly what it takes — and now, he’s created a reality competition series to give 10 hopefuls their shot at joining the network’s ever-growing roster. In Finding Mr. Christmas, Hallmark’s first reality competition show, Bennett puts actors from around the globe through challenges to test their acting skills, stunt abilities, charm, and, most importantly, whether they can capture the hearts of Hallmark’s audience.

Bennett, a GLAAD Award recipient and five-time nominee, has become a staple at Hallmark. No stranger to breaking new ground with the network, he has starred in and executive produced The Holiday Sitter, the network’s first gay-led romantic comedy, earning him the title “The Gay King of Christmas” among fans. With hits like The Christmas House franchise and Christmas on Cherry Lane, Bennett has shown his dedication to representing a more inclusive world.

With the new reality competition premiering on October 31, and coinciding with the 15th anniversary of the network’s beloved Countdown to Christmas programming, the winner will get the top spot in a forthcoming Hallmark holiday movie. Ahead of the show’s premiere, Collider spoke with Bennett, and two of the competition participants, Hayden Maher and Isaac Ramirez, about what to expect this season.

‘Finding Mr. Christmas Is a First for the Network
Bennett saw it as a no-brainer to merge Hallmark’s Christmas charm with reality TV—and the idea was pure genius.
Image via Hallmark

This year, Hallmark is giving a few unscripted programs. Bennett’s Mean GirIs co-star and Hallmark holiday staple Lacey Chabert kicked off the network’s venture into the genre with Celebrations With Lacey Chabert, where they honored well-deserved community leaders with the celebration of a lifetime.

COLLIDER: So, first and foremost, congratulations on Finding Mr. Christmas. Jonathan, as the co-creator of this whole shebang, how did this idea come to mind?

JONATHAN BENNETT: Well, so many people have fallen in love with Hallmark Channel and the pop cultureness of it and just the fandemonium that is Hallmark Channel movies that we’ve come to love. And so all my friends who are actors are always like, ‘Hey, Jonathan, how, how can I get one of those Hallmark movies? Can you give me one of those Hallmark movies?’ Because everyone loves them so much.

And so I thought what better way to add new actors to the Hallmark roster than to have a reality competition show where we watch 10 guys go head-to-head to see which one of them can come out on top and be that next Hallmark leading man? Because I think it’s so fun to go on the journey of each of the actors, because when we watch Hallmark, we just see the finished product, we see the leading man who’s on camera. What if we watch the journey to get there? And that was really interesting to me.

Now, why do you think that it was time for a new leading man? Because as a Hallmark fanatic, I feel like we’re fine with the recycled facts that we get.

BENNETT: You don’t know what you haven’t got yet. So you don’t know what you’re missing until you see it. And look at you coming for my job [laughs]. You’re like, ‘We’re good. We’re good.’ Stop with that. No, you don’t know what you don’t have until you see it. And I think that’s the spirit of Hallmark and all the stars that are on the network – it is so beautiful because they come from a spirit of when each other’s movies are premiering and airing, we are supporting each other and wanting each other to do good.

We’re not a competitive family. We’re a family of support, an undeniable support of the network. So it’s great that we have all these seats at the holiday table. But who are we turning around and grabbing the hand up and bringing to the table next? The world’s always evolving, things are growing. We have Hallmark Plus. We have Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. We have Hallmark Channel; there’s so many places to watch content. We need more actors, which is why they’re here, and we have great, great episodes of TV for you.

Jonathan Bennett Knows What It Takes to Be a Hallmark Star
Hallmark’s fanbase is huge despite its niche reputation. With constant new projects and rotating actors, it takes a special kind of talent to lead a Hallmark film.
Image via Hallmark

Like I said, this is unchartered territory. Now, one more final question for you, Jonathan, as a Hallmark leading man, what qualities were you looking for in the competitors?

BENNETT: I would say these two guys plus the other eight brothers that they have in this show all embody the same five qualities, hands down. No question. They’re all charming. They all have a great sense of humor. They all have a great wit about them. They are kind people as people, just as humans. They are kind, and they all have a huge heart – and that’s what makes a Hallmark leading man – and they all are abs…every single one of them embodies every single one of those traits.

Now, Hayden, were you a fan of the Hallmark Christmas movies before or was this just like a casting that you saw? And you were like, ‘This is my chance.’

HAYDEN MAHER: Here’s something really cool. We don’t have the Hallmark Channel in Australia. So my beginnings for Hallmark were when I moved to America. I actually lived in Vancouver for a little while and Hallmark’s huge in Canada. So I got my kind of lessons in Hallmark when I lived in Canada for a little while and now I’ve been living in America so I’m really catching up on the Hallmark culture here. I like not being from America or from here. I’m so over the moon that I can be a part of this because it’s huge and I hope to bring it back to Australia in some fashion.

So Isaac, talk to us about the competition. Were you surprised by anyone? Like was there someone who you thought was going to be an underdog? And then you were like, ‘Oh, that’s the one I need to be.’

ISSAC RAMIREZ: Oh, that’s a great question. as soon as I walked into the room, I knew all these guys were gonna be competition. They’re all such great guys. But as Jonathan was saying, it was more of a support thing. Once you’re there, you feel like a family. So it’s hard to compete with people who you actually care about and who you want to do good, right? I want the guy next to me to be good. I want everybody to do great. So it’s hard to see it that way.

But I’m a very competitive man myself. I grew up with seven siblings. So I know what it’s like to compete in sports, in music, playing instruments, all this stuff and try to be the best you can be. But at the end of the day, I come back to what Jonathan was saying is support, and that’s what we were to each other. We supported each other, we wanted each other to be successful in whatever it was that we were doing. Don’t get me wrong though. We were very, very competitive.

BENNETT: It’s like brothers. And like brothers, we’re gonna support and love each other and then they’re gonna go play basketball and come for blood during the game and then the game’s over, and they’re back to us. So it was like 10 competitors walked in as competition and they left as a brotherhood.

RAMIREZ: That was it. So it was beautiful to be a part of that.

‘Finding Mr. Christmas’ Is What Reality Television Needs
The show was a bold risk, with reality TV being new to Hallmark, which protects its joyful image. Bennett says *Finding Mr. Christmas* delivers fun while staying true to the brand.
Image via Hallmark

Now, while Hallmark may be good, clean fun, reality TV is not. So I’m wondering as the competition goes along, how dirty this gets. So was there any drama that made it feel like you guys were in on the action?

BENNETT: I guess you’re going to have to watch to find out, aren’t you? There’s drama. I’m not going to tell you the drama, but there’s definitely drama on the show, however, it’s done in a way that only Hallmark can, right? I think what Finding Mr. Christmas is doing is changing the face of reality television. I really do believe that because I think what we did such a fantastic job of is creating a show that has high stakes, it has high competition. It has a lot of cliffhangers and moments of uncertainty, but it’s all done with heart and kindness. So we’ve proven that you don’t have to flip tables and throw drinks in people’s face to have good reality television. You can still have kindness and heart and make a great show. You just have to do it correctly. And that’s exactly what we did with Finding Mr. Christmas.

RAMIREZ: And to add to that if I may, this is real. Everything you see, it’s us. So you get to experience who we really are behind it. If the person you see right now, this is what you get with all of us. We don’t produce you guys on the show, they’re just who they are. It’s a beautiful thing. So you want to be a part of us, we’re going to show you, we’re gonna pour our heart out to you. So be ready for that.

You can begin streaming Finding Mr. Christmas on Hallmark Plus on October 31.

Finding Mr. Christmas Release Date October 31, 2024 Cast Jonathan Bennett , Melissa Peterman , Blake Kelley , David Habashy , Daxton Bloomquist , Elijah Malcomb , Ezra Moreland , Gage Robinson , Hayden Maher , Isaac Ramirez , Jonathan Wells , Parker Gregory Main Genre Reality Seasons 1 Character(s) Host , Judge Expand

Stream on Hallmark+