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Daniel Lissing will be joining Lori Loughlin on “When Hope Calls” season 2. Hallmark fans had just learned that Loughlin would be reprising her role as Abigail on the “When Calls the Heart” spinoff. Now Lissing is joining her. The new season isn’t airing on The Hallmark Channel, but on a competing network.
He Will Star in a Secret Role in the Two-Part Premiere
Lissing will star in a secret role in the two-part premiere of “When Hope Calls” season 2, airing on GAC Family, Deadline reported. The episodes will premiere on December 18.
So far, GAC Family and Lissing are both not revealing what role he’s going to play in the second season. It’s not clear if his character, Jack, will somehow come back from the dead, if he’ll appear in flashbacks, or if he will play a different character. No additional details about his role have yet been released.
“When Hope Calls” is a spinoff to Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart,” created by Alfonsi H. Moreno, Deadline reported. Morgan Kohan will return as lead character Lillian Walsh. While season 1 of the series aired on Hallmark’s streaming service and then reaired later on The Hallmark Channel, season 2 has been picked up by GAC Family.
Lissing has not posted to Instagram about the announcement since it was made. However, Instagram and Facebook were down for hours shortly after GAC Family made the announcement.
Lissing did share a statement with ET Online about his role.
He said:
“I’m excited to be invited to participate in the season 2 premiere of When Hope Calls. I’m also very much looking forward to meeting the When Hope Calls team and to be working with my friend Lori again.”
Heavy previously reported that Loughlin is reprising her role as Abigail in the two-part premiere opener. Brian Bird is still set as an executive producer for the new season, despite its move to a new network.
Part 1 airs on Saturday, December 18, at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific. Part 2 airs immediately after Part 1 on Saturday, December 18, at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific.
Lissing Will Reveal His Role on ‘When Hope Calls’ on October 11
Lissing told ET Online that his role on “When Hope Calls” will be revealed on October 11. He didn’t share more details on how or in what format the announcement will be made. This story will be updated as those details are available.
Lissing portrayed Jack on “When Calls the Heart.”
Lissing has previously said that he missed being on the show and would be thrilled to return for a limited cameo appearance, such as in a flashback, any time the show’s producers asked him to come back, he told ET Online in February 2020.
He said:
…(Returning) would be so much fun. Of course. Just to go up there and see everyone again. I could see my old horse, Taylor. Look, if Hallmark called me for anything, I’d be there. They were there for me for five years so of course, I love those guys, so anytime.
Lissing chose to move on from the show while contracts were being renegotiated, which meant that Canadian Mountie Jack Thornton had to leave too, ET shared.
Because of his decision to move on, the showrunners considered hiring a new actor to play Jack, but realized Elizabeth and Jack’s chemistry was just too good to replace the character with another actor. They also thought about having Jack and Elizabeth break up, but that would be too out of character for both of them. Ultimately, the only solution was to let Jack die.
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