Frequent Christmas special star Candace Cameron Bure cited “traditional marriage” and Christian values as reasons for jumping ship from the Hallmark Channel to join the Great American Family network.
“I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core,” the “Full House” alum told The Wall Street Journal in an interview out Monday, when asked whether she believes her new TV home will air holiday content starring same-sex couples.
Hallmark is set to drop its first-ever holiday film in December that puts an LGBTQ romance front and center with “The Holiday Sitter.” Starring “Mean Girls” alum Jonathan Bennett, the movie centers on a man who starts up a romance with the neighbor he asked to help him babysit his niece and nephew.
“My heart wants to tell stories that have more meaning and purpose and depth behind them,” said Cameron Bure, 46, whose older brother, “Growing Pains” star Kirk Cameron is now better known as an evangelist, who in the past has been slammed for calling homosexuality “unnatural” and “destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.”
Cameron Bure added to the Journal, “I knew that the people behind Great American Family were Christians that love the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment.”
Referring to “spiritual or faith-based content” as “grossly underserved,” Bill Abbott, the network’s chief executive, told the Journal that at Great American Family — which he debuted last year — “There’s no whiteboard that says, ‘Yes, this’ or ‘No, we’ll never go here.’” Abbott previously held the same role at Crown Media Family Networks, parent company of the Hallmark Channel.
Prior to departing the Hallmark family, Cameron Bure acted in 30 Hallmark Media movies. She announced the transition earlier this year.
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