Crown Media Chris McNally and Julie Gonzalo
Hallmark stars Chris McNally and Julie Gonzalo have made it a point to keep their private lives private. After she announced the birth of their baby, they’ve shared few additional details. During a special fan event for “When Calls the Heart,” McNally finally opened up with an especially sweet, short story.
He Revealed Their Baby Is a Girl
In June, Gonzalo first shared with fans that she and McNally had a newborn baby. The news was announced on Gonzalo’s Instagram when she shared a photo of the baby’s hand. At that point, the two hadn’t even officially announced that they were in a relationship, but ET Online had previously revealed they were dating.
“Welcome baby M,” she simply posted, tagging herself and McNally in the picture.
The couple hasn’t revealed much else since, until a recent Hearties fan event.
A “When Calls the Heart” fan event took place in late September that was attended by many members of the cast, including McNally. The sweet moment happened when McNally took the mic. It was shared in a video on Twitter by @bucas_louchard.
The cast was discussing the scenes in season 9 where McNally’s character, Lucas, was bonding with Elizabeth’s son, Little Jack. In one of the scenes, Lucas read “Robin Hood” to Little Jack. Executive producer Brian Bird asked McNally what book he would read if the show was set in the present day.
“I like Robin Hood,” McNally began. “I have zero problem reading Robin Hood today. … My dad used to read me 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea… But that would be a sure choice, and also the Hobbit. Which I just recently found out is a children’s book because I bought it for myself excitedly… My dad read it to me when I was a kid…”
He joked that he couldn’t understand how they made a three-hour movie out of the book. Then he went on.
“I thought I was getting myself a wonderful adult novel,” he said. “That’s OK, because now it’s on our daughter’s shelf and I’ll read it to her.”
The crowd loved that response. It was also the first time that McNally had publicly shared that he and Gonzalo have a baby daughter.
Gonzalo and McNally starred in Hallmark’s “The Sweetest Heart” together, which premiered in 2018. In an interview with Fansided at the time, Gonzalo said that she and McNally would often split cupcakes during filming.
She told Fansided that McNally was a wonderful person and very easy to work with.
“So we took the time to just kind of chat and talk and get to know each other as much as we could in the little time that we had,” she said. “And then throughout the film, we were able to get together after work and read some lines. And he’s such a wonderful, wonderful person and a terrific actor so it was very easy with him.”
More Videos & Photos Were Shared from the Hearties Fan Event
Many other videos and photos from the Hearties fan event have been circulating on social media. Here’s one where the cast was introduced by Bird.
WCTH is truly something special and so much of that is because of these wonderful people ❤️ Thank you all! #hearties #hopevalleydays @erinkrakow @HuttonPascale @KavanjSmith @JackWagnerhpk @kevin_mcGarry @ChrisMcNally_ @natashaburnett @VivLeacock @AndreaKBrooks
Here’s a photo of the cast at the event.
What a special day!!! Some of the amazing When Calls the Heart cast stopped by to visit with the #Hearties! #HopeValleyDays @natashaburnett @kevin_mcGarry @ChrisMcNally_ @AndreaKBrooks @JackWagnerhpk @KavanjSmith @erinkrakow @HuttonPascale @VivLeacock @hallmarkchannel
Here are more pictures.
These photos from Krista Petrie of @JamestownSet of the #Hearties soaking up every moment on set is why we continue to have these special events! We hope you all enjoyed every moment and made memories to last a lifetime! 🫶 #HopeValleyDays
And another set of pictures:
Erin Krakow shared this cast picture during the event.
Thanks so much for coming to visit Hope Valley, #Hearties! We had so much fun surprising you! ❤️
Bird said that about 200 people attended.
#Hearties, it was thrilling to host 200 of you in Hope Valley Saturday for #HopeValleyDaysHeartiesReunion. What a blessing for all of us, cast and crew, to meet you and to hear your story of what @WCTH_TV means to you!
Season 10 of “When Calls the Heart” premieres sometime in 2023.