Heavy/Hallmark Brennan Elliott on the set of Hallmark's "Ms. Christmas Comes to Town"
Longtime Hallmark star Brennan Elliott was flooded with loving messages from thousands of fans and famous friends after he requested prayers for his wife, Camila Row, before her latest surgery for stomach cancer.
First diagnosed in 2018 with early-stage stomach cancer, Row underwent successful treatment at the time, which included chemotherapy and having her “complete stomach removed,” she revealed during an interview with the Hope for Stomach Cancer advocacy group. However, the cancer eventually returned and spread, resulting in a stage 4 diagnosis in early 2022.
Row has been trying to keep cancer at bay ever since with her medical team at City of Hope Cancer Center in Los Angeles, including HIPEC surgeries in which heated chemotherapy drugs are inserted into the abdomen and biopsies are taken to check for active cancer.
Captioning an Instagram photo of Row in a hospital gown on January 4, 2024, Elliott wrote, “Please send prayers and positive thoughts for my #warriorwife @camilla_row today as she undergoes her 7th HIPEC and #laparoscopy. 🙏 for everything to look good.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Famous Friends & Fans Flood Brennan Elliott’s Post With Love
Elliott’s post about Row’s latest surgery received an outpouring of love from his Hallmark colleagues and thousands of fans.
Hallmark actress and screenwriter Kimberley Sustad wrote, “Prayers of full healing and health and complete restoration❤️❤️”
Elliott’s “Open By Christmas” co-star Alison Sweeney left an emoji message with “🙏❤️🙏”
Actress and director Ashley Williams commented, “Sending massive love!!”
Actor Kristoffer Polaha added, “Lifted up!”
Cameron Mathison, who’s been through his own cancer journey, wrote, “Praying and sending so much love her way. To the whole family!”
Danica McKellar, who starred with Elliott in 2018’s “Christmas at Grand Valley,” chimed in, “Sending prayers to you and your entire beautiful family!! ❤️”
Other Hallmark regulars who commented or liked Elliott’s post included Peter Benson, Taylor Cole, John Brotherton, Wes Brown, Andrew Walker, Will Kemp, Drew Seeley and Erica Durance.
Fans also left nearly 3,000 comments, wishing Row well and praising Elliott for being a good caregiver.
One wrote, “Always praying for Camilla she is a beautiful warrior with a heart of gold , prayers for you Brennan and the kids 🙏”
Elliott responded with a prayer hands emoji to another who shared, “I hope everything goes well for your warrior wife 😘 I am a 40 year thyroid cancer survivor, so there is hope out there 💖 I was only 18 when I was diagnosed and am thankful for each morning that I wake up. Sending lots of healing love xx”
Brennan Elliott & Camilla Row Are Waiting for Results of Latest Biopsies
During a surgery in August, small cancerous lesions were discovered in Row’s abdomen, which let her team know that the treatments she was on weren’t working well enough. She was switched to a new chemotherapy regimen in the fall which, she shared on Instagram, has come with wearying side effects including nausea and hair loss.
On December 17, she good-naturedly shared on Instagram, “Something I never imagined I would be asking my husband @brennanelliott2 “Babe, is my toupee ok?” 😂😩👍”
Row recently took a four-week break from chemo, though, to give her body a break before surgery. On January 5, she shared that she’d undergone her latest surgery the previous evening.
“Exploratory/Diagnostic Laparoscopy with biopsies, addressing scar tissue with HIPEC #7,” she wrote alongside several photos of the the IVs she was receiving post-surgery. As with similar surgeries in the past, she and Elliott will now wait for results to help determine her path forward.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Row wrote to her followers. “All your prayers keep me uplifted. I pray God continues to bless me with negative pathology and cytology. And of course so so thankful for my incredible surgeon. And never could get thru this without my B”
Between the months-long actors’ strike and Row’s ongoing treatment, Elliott spent much of 2023 at home in LA with Row and their kids — daughter Luna, 9, and son Liam, 11. But in early December, he made it to Christmas Con in New Jersey to meet fans and catch up with his Hallmark pals including Lacey Chabert, whom he has starred with in nine different Hallmark projects.
Right before the strike started, Elliott was also able to film the holiday movie “Ms. Christmas Comes to Town” with Erica Durance and Barbara Niven. On the same day he shared that his wife was going in for surgery, he also shared memos from a Hallmark discussion group of over 91,000 fans which noted that “Ms. Christmas Comes to Town” was one of its most talked-about movies of the year.
The movie, per Hallmark’s synopsis, is about a shopping channel host known as Ms. Christmas who “receives a terminal diagnosis, which inspires a multi-city excursion set to spread Christmas cheer before her farewell broadcast.”
Elliot wrote, “Want to thank all you fans on Facebook for the love for our little movie #mschristmascomestotown! No press or anything during the strike and it was the 2nd most popular discussed movie on Facebook! Honored and humbled! THANKYOU all very much!”