With Candace Cameron Bure‘s first GAC Family Christmas movie set to premiere later this month, Hallmark Channel’s former holiday queen is speaking out about her decision to switch networks.
“My heart wants to tell stories that have more meaning and purpose and depth behind them,” Bure tells the Wall Street Journal. “I knew that the people behind Great American Family were Christians that love the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment.”
In other words, as the WSJ notes in its headline, Bure wants to put Christianity back in Christmas movies.
Speaking about Hallmark — where Bure starred in more than 20 Christmas movies, and played the titular detective in nearly as many Aurora Teagarden mysteries — the actress says, “It basically is a completely different network than when I started because of the change of leadership.”
That “change of leadership” came in January 2020 with the departure of former Crown Media Family Networks Chief Executive Officer Bill Abbott. His exit came in the wake of Hallmark’s handling of a commercial featuring a same-sex wedding, which was pulled from the channel and then reinstated. Abbott has rebounded as the new CEO of GAC Family parent company Great American Media, where he has lured big names from Hallmark — including Bure and Danica McKellar — over to his new home.
According to Abbott, “spiritual or faith-based content is grossly underserved,” and he sees Bure, who is now GAC Family’s chief creative officer, as “the key piece of what we’re doing.”
As for what GAC Family is not doing, Bure tells the WSJ not to expect any same-sex couples to be featured in its programming. “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core,” she says.
Bure’s first GAC Family movie, Candace Cameron Bure Presents: A Christmas… Present (pictured above), premieres Sunday, Nov. 27 at 8/7c. Watch the trailer below: