Crown Media Cameron Mathison and Debbie Matenopopulos on Home and Family.
The hosts of The Hallmark Channel’s canceled “Home and Family” show are now hosting a new event on a competitor’s network. They’ll be leading a Christmas special on ex-Hallmark channel CEO Bill Abbott’s new TV network, GAC Family.
Mathison & Matenopopulos Are Hosting a Christmas Special on GAC Family
Former Hallmark Channel CEO Bill Abbott’s new TV network, GAC Family, is launching on September 27. According to an Instagram story shared by GAC TV’s official account, the former hosts of “Home & Family” — Cameron Mathison and Debbie Matenopoulos — will be hosting a special event on GAC Family on October 24.
The event is called “Welcome to Great American Christmas,” and it will preview all the upcoming holiday movies, along with having celebrity guests on the special sharing craft ideas and recipe ideas for Christmas. The format sounds similar to “Home & Family,” where guests would come on the show to share stories, crafts, and recipes.
The information was revealed in an Instagram story from GAC Family that quoted an article from NextTV.
In March, Variety reported that “Home & Family” was going to be canceled.
The network said in a statement to Variety:
The ninth and current season of ‘Home & Family’ will be the series’ last. For nearly a decade, the show has anchored our daytime lineup, featuring countless hours of cooking, lifestyle, DIY, health, entertaining and decorating segments. We want to thank the heart and soul of the show, our incredibly talented cast and crew — led by co-hosts Debbie Matenopoulos and Cameron Mathison — for their creativity, hard work and dedication. Our audience can look forward to more of the topical segments they know and love when the show returns on Monday, April 5 with a new one-hour, three-day-a-week format. The program’s final episode airs Wednesday, August 4th.
The show’s future had been iffy prior to that announcement. First, it had been on a long hiatus due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles. After the long hiatus, “Home & Family” announced on March 8 that the series was returning. But instead of returning to a full schedule, they announced the show was returning on April 5 for a new one-hour format airing only three days a week, Monday through Wednesday. The new format didn’t last long. On March 23, just a few weeks after announcing that the show was returning, Crown Media announced that the series was canceled.
GAC Family Is Launching on September 27
Abbott, formerly the CEO of The Hallmark Channel, is part of an investment group called GAC Media that purchased two TV networks. Great American Country was turned into GAC Family and Ride TV was turned into GAC Living. Abbott is the CEO and president of these new networks, Deadline reported.
Since the announcement was made, GAC Family had gone on to pick up quite a few movies that will be airing this holiday season. Michael Damian, director of “Christmas Waltz,” shared that his new movie — “Much Ado About Christmas” — will air on October 30 on GAC Family.
Excited to announce my our #MuchAdoAboutChristmas Premieres Sat. Oct 30 / 8ET on the New Network @gactv , staring the fab @susieabromeit @torrancecoombs 🎄🎅🏻 💕 @janeendamian @mpca_bktv t.co/VcvVIqd2ld
“An Autumn Romance” is premiering on Saturday, October 23 at 8 p.m. Eastern, starring Chad Michael Murray and Jessica Lowndes.
“Christmas Time Is Here” premieres on November 18 at 8 p.m. Eastern, starring Dewshane Williams, Rukiya Bernard, and Tom Pickett.
Jen Lilley is starring in a GAC Family movie called “Royally Wrapped for Christmas,” according to her social media posts.
Mathison is starring with Jennie Garth in the GAC Family movie “A Kindhearted Christmas.” This movie premieres November 20.