Hallmark’s been making original movies and TV programs for years, but more recently it’s become a holiday staple in many households thanks to its robust Christmas programming schedule. Only in the last year, a rival network has made some major moves and coaxed some heavy hitters over at Hallmark to its own slate. This includes the likes of Danica McKellar and Candace Cameron Bure, who have signed new deals with GAC Family. But not so fast, as Hallmark recently re-upped the deals for some other major names on the network.
This week, Hallmark announced a new deal with one of its more popular faces, Taylor Cole. Cole has starred in classic Hallmark Christmas movies like Christmas Festival of Ice and last year’s Making Spirits Bright. She’s also a mainstay in regular romantic programming (would recommend 2018’s Falling for You) and has her own series of movies on Movies and Mysteries as well, A Ruby Herring Mystery. Thanks to the new overall deal, she’ll be creating multiple more movies for the cable network, though it’s currently unclear how many more pictures she’s signed on for.
Cole confirmed the news via a post on her Instagram, commenting about the decision:
I’ve never been more proud to be a part of the Hallmark Channel family. Forever growing together. #familyfirst #hallmarkmovies
Normally, Taylor Cole signing a new contract would be happy news for her fans, but wouldn’t have the significance that this contract has. That’s because GAC Family has seemingly been on a mission to poach Hallmark stars for its own very similar programming. Danica McKeller and Jen Lilley had both exited the Hallmark family already when Candace Cameron Bure dropped the bombshell news she had signed a new deal with GAC too. (Though her deal is non-exclusive.)
Meanwhile, given the defections from the network, Hallmark has been working out multi-picture deals for a lot of its staple actors and actresses. Most notable among these have been deals for Lacey Chabert, Brennan Elliott and Holly Robinson-Peete, who all have starred in a wide variety of programming on the cable channel in the past. Chabert is even branching out with the network and doing more creative work of late, including the three-movie extravaganza The Wedding Veil, her "longtime dream." Andrew Walker and Heather Hemmens have also signed new deals.
Meanwhile, while there’s a lot of back-and-forth happening between the networks right now, the Hallmark family has always seemed to be fairly close-knit, with the actors starring in the programming often commenting on one another’s social media posts. This was true when Candace Cameron Bure announced her exit and her Hallmark co-stars reached out, but it’s also true of Taylor Cole re-upping, as co-stars including Jonathan Bennett sent their “congrats.”
Taylor Cole’s last project was the holiday movie she filmed for the network in 2021, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated when her next project is lined up. With any luck, maybe it’ll be a Ruby Herring Mystery. A girl can hope!
