Finding Mr. Christmas

Finding Mr. Christmas
GenreReality competition
Presented byJonathan Bennett
Judges
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes7
Production
Executive producers
  • Adam Cohen
  • Ben Roy
  • Cara Tapper
  • Joanna Vernetti
  • Jonathan Bennett
Producers
  • Kelley Coorloff
  • Taylor Cochoran
  • David Lutz
Running time41–55 minutes
Production companyHallmark Media
Original release
NetworkHallmark+
ReleaseOctober 31, 2024 (2024-10-31) –
present

Finding Mr. Christmas is an American reality competition television series that premiered on October 31, 2024 on Hallmark+. The series follows a group of men competing in various Christmas-themed challenges in order to win the title of Mr. Christmas, as well as a leading role in a 2024 Hallmark Christmas movie titled Happy Howlidays.

Described as a "tinsel-draped cross between The Bachelor and RuPaul’s Drag Race," the series was created by Ben Roy, who pitched the idea to Jonathan Bennett, a Hallmark star known for his roles in several movies, including The Holiday Sitter.[1] Bennett both hosts and judges the competition, with Melissa Peterman joining him as a lead judge.

Format

The contestants in the series are men from various backgrounds who aspire to become actors. In each episode, they face two rounds of challenges. The first round is titled "Festive Face Off," where contestant showcase their holiday spirit. The winner of the face off earns an advantage in the Star Quality challenge. The second, main challenge, titled "Star Quality," is an acting challenge where contestant have to learn a script and act out a scene from a Hallmark Christmas movie.

After the challenge, the judges deliberate to pick the strongest and the weakest competitors. The contestant that did not impress the judges is eliminated from the competition.

Judges

Bennett both hosts and judges the competition, with Melissa Peterman joining him as the main judge.[2][3] The series features various guest judges each episode.

Contestants

Ten contestants were revealed in October 2024.[4]

Ages, names, and cities stated are at time of filming.

Contestants of Finding Mr. Christmas and their backgrounds
Contestant[4] Age[4] Hometown[4] Occupation[4] Outcome
Blake Kelley 36 Beaumont, Texas Sales manager TBA
David Habashy 29 Vancouver, British Columbia Aerospace engineer TBA
Daxton Bloomquist 36 Los Angeles, California Actor TBA
Elijah Malcomb 31 Lodi, N.J. Actor TBA
Ezra Moreland 31 San Diego, California Model and former Navy rescue diver TBA
Gage Robinson 29 Los Angeles, California Marketing consultant TBA
Hayden Maher 30 Los Angeles, California Children's entertainer TBA
Jonathan Wells 27 Chicago, Illinois Entrepreneur TBA
Parker Gregory 39 League City, Texas Model TBA
Isaac Ramirez 28 Santa Clarita, California Firefighter 10th place

Contestant progress

Legend:

  FFO WIN indicates that the contestant won the Festive Face Off Challenge.
  WIN indicates that the contestant won the Star Quality Challenge.
  SAFE indicates that the contestant neither won, nor was eliminated.
  BTM (Bottom) indicates that the contestant was up for elimination.
  ELIM (Eliminated) indicates that the contestant was eliminated.
Progress of contestants including placements in each episode
Contestant Episode
1[5] 2<ref name="episode2">{{cite episode|title=Mr. December|series=Finding Mr. Christmas|series-link=Finding Mr. Christmas|air-date=October 31,


Blake Kelley SAFE TBA
David Habashy SAFE TBA
Daxton Bloomquist SAFE TBA
Elijah Malcomb SAFE TBA
Gage Robinson SAFE TBA
Hayden Maher WIN TBA
Jonathan Wells SAFE TBA
Parker Gregory BTM TBA
Isaac Ramirez FFO
ELIM

Place Contestants Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Elijah IN LOW WIN HIGH WIN HIGH HIGH Ezra IN HIGH LOW WIN IN HIGH WIN Hayden WIN HIGH HIGH LOW HIGH WIN LOW 4 Blake HIGH HIGH IN HIGH HIGH LOW OUT 5 Jonathan HIGH IN LOW IN LOW OUT 6 Parker LOW WIN HIGH OUT OUT 7 Gage IN LOW OUT 8 Daxton HIGH HIGH WD 9 David LOW OUT 10 Isaac OUT

Episodes

No.TitleOriginal air date
1"The Hunt For Mr. Christmas"October 31, 2024 (2024-10-31)

The ten contestants enter the house and get to know each other. Jonathan Bennett greets them and introduces them to the competition rules. For their first Festive Face Off, the contestants have to design an ugly Christmas sweater and wear it on the runway in front of Bennett and Melissa Peterman. Isaac was declared the winner of the first Festive Face Off.

For their main Star Quality challenge, the contestants had to star in a short movies scene in pairs. In the scene, the contestants had to fight for the attention of the female lead, who was portrayed by Erin Cahill, who also served as the guest judge for this challenge. As the winner of the Festive Face Off, Isaac got to pair up the contestants.

The judges declared Hayden as "tonight's shining star," i.e. the winner of the first Star Quality challenge. Isaac and Parker were selected as the two weakest performing contestants, with Issac getting eliminated from the competition.

  • Festive Face Off Challenge: Decorate an ugly Christmas sweater
  • Festive Face Off Challenge winner: Isaac
  • Star Quality Challenge: Fight for the female lead's attention in a scripted scene
  • Star Quality Challenge winner: Hayden
  • Bottom Two: Isaac and Parker
  • Eliminated: Isaac
2"Mr. December"October 31, 2024 (2024-10-31)
3"Falling for you"November 7, 2024 (2024-11-07)
4"The Talented Mr. Christmas"November 14, 2024 (2024-11-14)
5"Laughing All the Way"November 21, 2024 (2024-11-21)
6"The Festive Five"November 28, 2024 (2024-11-28)
7TBADecember 5, 2024 (2024-12-05)

References

  1. ^ Blake, Meredith (October 31, 2024). "'Finding Mr. Christmas' challenges men to 'lead with kindness' for a role as a Hallmark hunk". latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  2. ^ "Melissa Peterman - Lead Judge". hallmarkchannel.com. Hallmark Channel. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  3. ^ Alexander, Bryan (October 30, 2024). "Hallmark's search for hunky 'Mr. Christmas' is on with Jonathan Bennett's reality show". USA Today. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Baldwin, Kristen (October 3, 2024). "Meet the cast of Hallmark+ reality show Finding Mr. Christmas (exclusive)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 22, 2024. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  5. ^ "The Hunt For Mr. Christmas". Finding Mr. Christmas. Season 1. Episode 1. October 31, 2024. Hallmark+.