Here’s What It Really Takes to Be Hallmark’s Leading Holiday Man

A Hallmark holiday flick that truly sleighs requires a few essentials: A small-town bursting with charm, a meet-cute and a made for TV hunk.

Hosted by Mean Girls alum Jonathan Bennett, Hallmark’s Finding Mr. Christmas— the network’s first ever reality series­—gives a peek inside the hunt for the latter, featuring 10 aspiring actors as they compete in a variety of holiday-themed challenges. The winner not only takes home the title of “Mr. Christmas,” but will also be crowned Hallmark’s next leading man.

While Hallmark has made a name for itself as the Meccah of holiday-themed rom-coms, this reality show catapults the beloved network into a new era.

“I wanted people to turn on this show and go, ‘that's Hallmark?,’” Jonathan told E! News’ Francesca Amiker in an exclusive interview. “And I think we did a great job of doing that.”

The idea for the show stemmed from re-evaluating how the network selects their leading heartthrobs.

“Everyone has come to love and adore the Hallmark movies. They love all the tropes, and they love tuning in because they know what they're gonna get,” Jonathan explained. “So, I thought, ‘what better way to create a hunk than by gamifying the process of becoming a hallmark hunk?’ And so that's exactly what we did with Finding Mr. Christmas.”

Though the process of finding Hallmark’s next hunk may be unconventional, the contestants had a blast while going head-to-head.

“I love to compete,” Finding Mr. Christmas contestant Elijah confessed to E!. “And I thought this was such a cool and innovative way to find a leading man, rather than your traditional audition process.”

The contestants also cultivated a sense of brotherhood—something you won’t find on your average competition show.

“They walked in as 10 competitors, and they left a family,” Jonathan shared. "There are so many reality shows that have table flipping and drink throwing, and all the drama is created on-screen. Well, we don't have any drama in our show, and yet, we were able to make a show funny, entertaining, compelling, have high stakes and we were able to do that with kindness and heart, which is exactly what you expect from Hallmark channel.”

Since Jonathan has graced the small screen in a whopping nine Hallmark movies, he knows what makes the perfect leading man. And a true hunk lies in the kind of person they are off-screen.

“They've got a great smile. They've got charm oozing out of their ears. They've got a great sense of humor. They can make a joke out of anything and uplift a scene at any moment. They are kind people, and they also have a huge heart,” Jonathan, 43, noted. “And that's not just the characters they play. That's who these people are, who all the Hallmark actors are in real life. So when finding the next Hallmark leading man, those qualities are what we look for first and foremost.”

Finding Mr. Christmas premieres Oct. 31 on Hallmark+.

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