Candace Cameron Bure was one of the most prolific stars on Hallmark Channel, having led the Aurora Teagarden series on the Movies & Mystery channel and a slew of Christmas movies. So it was a surprise when it was announced she’d be leaving for rival channel Great American Family (former Great American Channel). Now Bure is opening up about the decision ahead of her first post-Hallmark Christmas movie.
The Full House vet is among many former Hallmark stars who switched networks. Hallmark’s head honcho even called out Bure and other stars who left, expressing her disappointment but hope that mostly everyone will stay on the Christmas channel. Bure discussed her long career with Variety and why she decided to leave Hallmark for GAF:
The truth is 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.
The reasoning definitely makes sense, as she’s been with Hallmark for close to a decade. A change is always nice, and it sounds like the switch came at a time when negotiations with Hallmark just weren’t going through. It also seems like Candace Cameron Bure has nothing but nice things to say about her time on Hallmark, but hopefully we’ll see her on the channel again soon.
Even though it’s been months since the exit, fans are still apparently asking Bure about future Hallmark movies. I don’t blame them, though, since she has done over two dozen movies for the network. Luckily, her time on GAF has already given us a Full House reunion while promoting the upcoming Christmas lineup. The holiday season will definitely feel a little different, but it will be interesting to see. While a Hallmark Christmas is a pretty big deal, seeing how GAF holds up will be something to look forward to.
Candace Cameron Bure’s departure from Hallmark was announced not long after Danica McKellar’s, who was also another big part of the network. With Bure now on GAF, it’s likely that her long-running Aurora Teagarden franchise is done after 18 films. Maybe she’ll star in a new franchise on Great American Family, but future projects for the network are currently unknown.
While GAF has snagged multiple Hallmark stars, there are still a decent amount staying on the latter. Lacey Chabert signed a new deal with Hallmark earlier this year, and Brennan Elliot signed a new Hallmark deal as well. However, things are still up in the air about Luke MacFarlane, who isn’t sure what his future with Hallmark looks like.
The Christmas season is almost here, and now you’ll be able to look forward to spending the holidays twice on both Hallmark and Great American Family, but that will definitely be something to get used to. It makes me wonder if any more Hallmark stars will make the switch, but for now, we’ll have to look forward to these new post-Hallmark movies from some favorites!
