Some months ago, Full House star Candace Cameron Bure announced that she was leaving Hallmark. The 47-year-old actress, who has been the face of the production company for over a decade, is now moving to Great American Family, popularly known as GAC. The movie star told the Wall Street Journal that her decision is faith-based. “My heart wants to tell stories that have more meaning and purpose and depth behind them,” Candace revealed.
The Full House alum has been featured in over 30 movies, 10 of which are holiday titles for the Hallmark network. Her appearances in the channel’s popular holiday films have earned her the nickname “Mother of Christmas.”
Candace Cameron Bure sheds light on why she left Hallmark
In September, Candace told Variety the ‘truth’ behind her leaving the company. “I’ve been under contract with Hallmark for a very, very long time and those have been absolutely wonderful. It just so happened that my contract was expiring when Great American Family started up. So we did not start having those discussions until 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.”
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Also, the star pointed out that Hallmark’s recognition of minority groups has made them adopt the LGBTQ in their movies, which does not align with her beliefs. The new religion-oriented network “will keep traditional marriage at the core,” she says. “I knew the people behind the Great American Family were Christians that love the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment.”
Candace Cameron Bure wants to bring back christ in Christmas films
Candace, who served as the company’s Chief Creative Officer, talked about the change in the values of Hallmark over the years. She noted that the change in leadership had a lot of impact on the network, as it is now different from what she met when she started working there. This is due to the exit of Bill Abbott, the current CEO of Great American Family, from Hallmark in 2020.
With major studios and networks encouraging LGBTQ and steering away from focusing on the religious aspects of Christmas, Abbott and Candace are focused on bringing back the traditional message of Christ. Despite criticism, Abbott believes their plans can be achieved without bowing to societal pressures. “There’s no whiteboard that says, ‘Yes, this’ or ‘No, we’ll never go here.'”
Bill Abbott is happy to work with her again
Abbott is delighted to work with the actress again. “Candace is adored by generations of fans as one of family entertainment’s most cherished and relatable stars,” Bill stated. “She has helped build this genre into the mainstream success it is today. And I look forward to working together at GAC Media as we further establish our brands as leaders in quality family programming.”
However, Candace’s statement that the new channel will not include any LGBTQ storylines has been met with backlash from the public and celebrities like Jojo Siwa, Hilarie Burton, and gay actor Jonathan Bennett.