Hallmark’s Christmas in July programming block has once again arrived to continue bringing the coziness of holiday romances to summer audiences, and one of those on-screen romance took on a life of its own. The stars of the upcoming release A Royal Christmas Crush, Katie Cassidy and Stephen Huszar are now dating in real life after the initial sparks started flying between them while filming, and it actually helped the film.
A Royal Christmas Crush sees Katie Cassidy’s Ava, an architect, falling for Huszar’s Prince Henry while Ava helps her uncle build an ice hotel for the royal family. (I mean, who doesn't have that story in their romantic background.) Even though the couple's real-life tale is a tad different, it still made filming easier due to the fact it felt organic with an added element, as the Arrow alum told Us Weekly:
We obviously [were] professional and kept it that way. However, I felt as though it’s almost like there was this layer because he and I kind of knew this secret thing that nobody else knew. And we could let our guard down when our characters were supposed to and allow space to fall into one another. I almost feel like that added a certain type of element to it. We just couldn’t help it.
Katie Cassidy and Stephen Huszar are definitely not the first couple who turned fictional love into reality, and probably won’t be the last, but even their love story sounds like a Hallmark movie in the making while on the set of a Hallmark movie. Having a secret relationship may be tough at times, but it does sound like it actually worked for the duo, and being able to almost follow in their characters’ footsteps made it all the more real, both on-screen and off.
That being said, it’s hard to push down feelings for someone when you know they’re actually there, and while the two were professional, as Huszar echoed his co-star’s sentiments about the situation, the feelings just could not be pushed down any longer. At least it helped with the overall filming of the movie:
It’s certainly important to keep it professional. As we did, but, you know, feelings come up. And personally, for me, it just allows me to land a little bit more in truth. I mean, our job is obviously to be as truthful as we can in, in these circumstances that are surreal, unreal. But when something is actually triggering truthfully inside you, of course, that helps.
It’s sweet to hear how the two of them talk about each other, because not only will fans want to witness their relationship in A Royal Christmas Crush, they will now likely want to keep celebrating their IRL relationship. With the film set to premiere Saturday, July 8, on the Christmas-friendly channel, seeing how their relationship radiates on-screen, knowing that they were in a then-secret relationship off-screen, will be something to look forward to.
Katie Cassidy and Stephen Huszar’s relationship was first confirmed by Cassidy while on vacation after it was reported that the two were seen together. They are just the latest Hallmark couple to take their relationship on in the real world, following When Calls the Heart’s Kevin McGarry and Kayla Wallace in 2019 and got engaged in 2022. Meanwhile, Julia Gonzalo and Chris McNally welcomed a baby together in 2022 after meeting on 2018’s The Sweetest Heart. It's not so surprising, though, since Hallmark is all about the cheesy romances and falling in love when you least expect it.
It's clear that Cassidy has met her real-life Prince Charming with Huszar, but make sure to watch the duo in their on-screen royal romance, A Royal Christmas Crush premiering this Saturday, July 8 at 8 p.m. ET on Hallmark as part of the upcoming slate Hallmark films. Take a look at the 2023 TV schedule to see what other premieres to look forward to this year.
