‘When Calls The Heart’ Returning ‘So Fast’: Hallmark Drops Surprise Trailer

Heavy/Hallmark Andrea Brooks and Kevin McGarry on "When Calls The Heart"

As former “When Calls The Heart” duo Erin Krakow and Daniel Lissing reunited onscreen for the premiere of their new holiday movie, “Santa Tell Me,” Hearties were shocked when Hallmark Channel delivered an early Christmas present: details about the new season of the hit series.

As fans settled in for the new movie on November 9, 2024, the network announced that the 12th season of WCTH, which wrapped filming the day before, will premiere on January 5, 2025 — far sooner than most fans expected. As part of the announcement, Hallmark Channel also released the first trailer for the new season, thrilling Hearties.

New Season of ‘When Calls The Heart’ Will Debut Sooner Than Any Previous Season

The trailer for the 12th season opens with lead character Elizabeth, played by Krakow, popping in to say hello to mountie Nathan, played by Kevin McGarry — signaling that the relationship they hard-launched at the end of season 11 is still in bloom.

The trailer then shifts to a scene featuring “Little House on the Prairie” alum Melissa Gilbert, who was announced as a new cast member in September, turning around and saying to Jack Wagner, “I hope you don’t mind, I let myself in!”

He sweetly smiles and says, “How are you Georgie?”

According to Hallmark’s press announcement, Gilbert will play the role of Georgie McGill, a character who shares a “surprising past” with one of the residents of Hope Valley.

Little else is revealed about the upcoming season in the new trailer, but the caption of Hallmark’s social media reveal told fans, “It’s time to finally go back home to Hope Valley, #Hearties! 💜 The all new season 12 of #WhenCallsTheHeart premieres January 5 at 9/8c.”

The timing of the premiere comes as a shock to many Hearties, given that no other season has premiered so early in a calendar year, per IMDb. Until now, that distinction went to the very first season, which debuted on January 11, 2014.

From 2015 through 2019, Hallmark did air one holiday themed pre-season episode each December but the corresponding third through seventh seasons didn’t really kickoff until the following Februarys.

After that, each season premiered later and later. In 2021, season eight premiered in late February; in 2022, season nine debuted in early March; in 2023, season 10 didn’t air until July 30, and season 11 premiered in April 2024.

Erin Krakow Teases ‘Huge’ Season Hours Before ‘When Calls The Heart’ Announcement

Fans flooded social media within minutes of Hallmark’s season 12 reveal, expressing how shocked and thrilled they were by the early premiere of the next season, including one who admitted on Instagram, “I just screamed!”

Another wrote, “This is so exciting! Best news! Cannot wait for the new season and storylines! Cannot wait for January! Thank you hallmark!”

Someone else commented, So fast!! Thanks for this amazing gift, so excited to go back to Hope Valley and see more of Nathan and Elizabeth 😍😍🥰🥰❤❤

Krakow also commented on Hallmark Channel’s Instagram reveal, writing, “There’s no where else I’d rather be. 🥰”

The premiere date and trailer for the 12-episode season were shared one day after the WCTH cast wrapped filming on the season, as shared by multiple cast members including Krakow, Pascale Hutton and Jack Wagner.

On November 9, hours before the WTCH announcement, Swooon published an interview with Krakow about wrapping season 12. She said that it had been “such a roller coaster of a season, and I mean that in the best possible way.”

“I can’t speak for every actor or every character on our show,” Krakow told Swooon, “but I can say that for my character, there has been so much variety: high highs, low lows, some real frisky fun, some comedy, and some serious drama. That’s just scratching the surface. It’s going to be a huge season.”

When Hallmark renewed WCTH for a 12th season in May, it said in a press release that the series would “continue with themes about family, community, and of course romance as we move further into the 1920s.”