Candace Cameron Bure, who you may know as the “Christmas Queen,” will not star in any new Hallmark Christmas movies this year.
The Hallmark star, who made her debut to the network in 2008 in “Moonlight and Mistletoe,” has starred in 29 more Hallmark movies, including one of the network’s top-rated Christmas movies, “Switched for Christmas,” per Today.
After a successful 13-year run on the network, Bure announced that she decided to leave Hallmark and take her talent to Great American Family, the network launched by former Hallmark CEO and president Bill Abbott.
In an interview with Variety, Bure said that with Great American Family she was excited to “develop heartwarming family and faith-filled programming and make the kind of stories my family and I love to watch.”
Why did Candace Cameron Bure leave Hallmark?
Bure got her acting start when she was six years old, and as a teenager she played D.J. Tanner for 193 episodes of “Full House.” At the conclusion of “Full House,” Bure got married and became a mother two years later.
“From 20 to 30, I actually just rested with family and being a mom. The thought of a career took a backseat to my family, but then I came back with a vengeance,” Bure told Variety.
Re-entering Hollywood proved to be more difficult than Bure anticipated. She got her post-hiatus big break with the Hallmark Channel, where she starred in movies for over a decade, essentially becoming the face of the network.
Last year, Bure decide it was time to part ways with Hallmark. Bure was under contract with Hallmark for a “very, very long time,” she told Variety. Her contract with Hallmark ended the same year that Abbot, the former CEO of Hallmark, launched Great American Family.
“We were well into negotiations with Hallmark Channel for renewing. And as every business person knows, you’ve got to do what’s right for contracts. It didn’t work out with Hallmark and so we started talking to Bill,” Bure told Variety.
What is Candace Cameron Bure working on now?
Bure will star in a Christmas movie this year on the Great American Family channel. She is also involved in production and is the Chief Creative Officer, Variety reported.
Her first movie with the Great American Family network is called “A Christmas... Present,” and it premieres Nov. 27, per Great American Family. Most of the new network’s Christmas movies follow similar plots to the Hallmark channel. For example, a big city girl stumbles upon a Christmas-obsessed town for the holidays and falls for the small town boy from her past.
Bure is helping create the brand and its content based on “wholesome” values.
“We have to build this network. We have to let people know that we’re there and to be aware of it and get the distribution out everywhere. But this is going to be content that is trusted, that’s wholesome, that’s family-friendly,” Bure told Variety.
Hallmark’s efforts to be more inclusive
The Hallmark channel was wrapped up in controversy last year when it rejected a Zola advertisement that featured a same-sex couple. Following the controversy, Bill Abbott, the former president and CEO of Crown Media, the parent company of Hallmark, resigned from his position and launched Great American Family.
“We are not allowed to accept creatives that are deemed controversial,” an account representative for Hallmark said of the advertisement, per The New York Times.
A Hallmark spokesperson told the Times that the commercial was rejected because it violated company policies. According to the spokesperson, any advertisement that shows overt public displays of affection, political advertisements, offensive language or R-rated content is not allowed.
Out of the six ads sent in by Zola, the four that featured same-sex couples were rejected.
Since Abbott stepped down last year, the Hallmark network has made efforts to be more inclusive of the LGBTQ community.
“Diversity and inclusion is a top priority for us,” read a recent Hallmark statement, per “Good Morning America.” “We are committed to creating a Hallmark experience where everyone feels welcome.”
Hallmark’s 2022 Christmas lineup will feature the network’s first Christmas romance centered on a gay couple. The movie, “The Holiday Sitter,” premieres Dec. 11.
Will Great American Family follow in Hallmark’s footsteps?
Bure talked to Variety about the type of content that she expects to see from Great American Family.
“They are going to move much more forward in the faith content, and having both — still having lots of movies, rom-coms and Christmas movies that don’t involve faith, but also ones that really do,” Bure told Variety.
According to People, Bure does not believe Great American Family will feature same-sex couples in its movies. Bure said that she believes the network will keep “traditional marriage at the core.”