How Hallmark Channel Stars Celebrate the Holidays: Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chabert, Jonathan Bennett and More

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How Hallmark Channel Stars Celebrate the Holidays: Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chabert, Jonathan Bennett and More

Just like the movies? Hallmark Channel stars including Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chabert and Jonathan Bennett revealed how they spend the holidays — and whether it resembles any of their Christmas-themed films. “I try to honor the, like, day after Thanksgiving [rule to decorating],” Sweeney exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2022, when asked about when she puts up Christmas items. The A Magical Christmas Village star confessed that she loves Halloween, so that’s when her neighbors first see her holiday spirit. “You gotta give Halloween, it's due,” she explained. “My favorite meal to cook all year long is Thanksgiving. So I love Thanksgiving [because] the family [is together]. It's like my favorite day.” The Murder, She Baked actress, however, revealed that the “very next day” she goes into Christmas mode. “It’s, like, time to go get a tree or get your tree out and start putting on the ornaments and the decorations and the lights and get to work,” Sweeney told Us. Later that month, the soap opera star dished to Us about which Hallmark movie trope she loves the most — and it doesn’t include decorating early. “I love the ice skating. So Luke MacFarlane plays my love interest [in A Magical Christmas Village] — so good, so handsome,” Sweeney said while celebrating Hallmark’s 2022 Countdown to Christmas at Radio City Music Hall. “We did, of course, the classic Christmas ice skating, like, klutzy character that has to fall and it was so fun and funny and he was so good helping me through it.” [jwplayer 46YrVMWl-zhNYySv2] Bennett, who starred in his first Hallmark movie in 2010, exclusively told Us in October 2022 that he can’t get enough of the “near-miss kisses” each season. “We do about six near-miss kisses in The Holiday Sitter. We give everyone everything they want,” he said of his 2022 holiday film. “And what's so special about The Holiday Sitter is that yes, an LGBTQ+-led movie, but it's not for just LGBTQ+ people. The Holiday Sitter is a movie for everyone just like Hallmark Channel is for everyone. And Christmas is for everyone.” Jordin Sparks, who made her Hallmark debut in 2021, agreed with Bennett. “Hallmark is family,” she exclusively told Us in October 2021. “Hallmark is love.” Chabert, for her part, gushed over the process of making films with Hallmark Media, having worked with the company since 2010. “It’s a true collaboration when everyone comes together and brings their talents to make that happen,” the Party of Five alum exclusively told Us in October 2021, referring to the 15-day turnaround she had on Christmas at Castle Heart. “I’m always in awe.” Scroll down to see how Hallmark Channel stars past and present celebrate the holidays from year to year:

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How Hallmark Channel Stars Celebrate the Holidays: Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chabert, Jonathan Bennett and More

Just like the movies? Hallmark Channel stars including Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chabert and Jonathan Bennett revealed how they spend the holidays — and whether it resembles any of their Christmas-themed films. “I try to honor the, like, day after Thanksgiving [rule to decorating],” Sweeney exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2022, when asked about when she puts up Christmas items. The A Magical Christmas Village star confessed that she loves Halloween, so that’s when her neighbors first see her holiday spirit. “You gotta give Halloween, it's due,” she explained. “My favorite meal to cook all year long is Thanksgiving. So I love Thanksgiving [because] the family [is together]. It's like my favorite day.” The Murder, She Baked actress, however, revealed that the “very next day” she goes into Christmas mode. “It’s, like, time to go get a tree or get your tree out and start putting on the ornaments and the decorations and the lights and get to work,” Sweeney told Us. Later that month, the soap opera star dished to Us about which Hallmark movie trope she loves the most — and it doesn’t include decorating early. “I love the ice skating. So Luke MacFarlane plays my love interest [in A Magical Christmas Village] — so good, so handsome,” Sweeney said while celebrating Hallmark’s 2022 Countdown to Christmas at Radio City Music Hall. “We did, of course, the classic Christmas ice skating, like, klutzy character that has to fall and it was so fun and funny and he was so good helping me through it.” [jwplayer 46YrVMWl-zhNYySv2] Bennett, who starred in his first Hallmark movie in 2010, exclusively told Us in October 2022 that he can’t get enough of the “near-miss kisses” each season. “We do about six near-miss kisses in The Holiday Sitter. We give everyone everything they want,” he said of his 2022 holiday film. “And what's so special about The Holiday Sitter is that yes, an LGBTQ+-led movie, but it's not for just LGBTQ+ people. The Holiday Sitter is a movie for everyone just like Hallmark Channel is for everyone. And Christmas is for everyone.” Jordin Sparks, who made her Hallmark debut in 2021, agreed with Bennett. “Hallmark is family,” she exclusively told Us in October 2021. “Hallmark is love.” Chabert, for her part, gushed over the process of making films with Hallmark Media, having worked with the company since 2010. “It’s a true collaboration when everyone comes together and brings their talents to make that happen,” the Party of Five alum exclusively told Us in October 2021, referring to the 15-day turnaround she had on Christmas at Castle Heart. “I’m always in awe.” Scroll down to see how Hallmark Channel stars past and present celebrate the holidays from year to year:

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Paul Greene

“We always take a little spicy apple cider and put some bourbon in it as we're making, like, food. There's [a] fireplace always. There's always food and wine,” the Christmas CEO actor exclusively told Us in December 2022. “I love making the bird and I love making all the cranberry sauces [and other food].”

Greene noted that he puts “a whole bottle of white wine into the bird” while cooking and joked, “I probably drink an entire bottle of red wine with some help [from] the people in the kitchen with me.”

The When Calls the Heart alum — who has been dubbed the “King of Christmas” after starring in more than 10 holiday movies — added that he tops off his festive activities by “playing some old school Bing Crosby.” He’s particularly fond of the White Christmas album, which he listens to as he cooks.

“It makes me so happy to be in the kitchen and making that special type of food,” the Christmas in Angel Falls star concluded.

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Alison Sweeney

“I guess we do sort of the traditional traditions,” the Hannah Swensen Mysteries star exclusively told Us in October 2022. “Decorating the tree together. I love the stockings — pulling stockings out and [then] they're hung by the chimney with care. “And we watch a bunch of Christmas movies at Christmas time.”

The Wedding Veil trilogy actress revealed that she considers Die Hard “to be a Christmas movie” but she also watches the more traditional films including A Christmas Story and Home Alone.

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Jordin Sparks

“I love Christmas. I love Christmas time,” the American Idol alum exclusively told Us in October 2021 while talking about her holiday film A Christmas Treasure. “You know, I was born December 22nd. So, Christmas basically runs through my veins. And I just, I love the season.”

Sparks didn’t name a specific tradition, instead, she gushed over all the things she celebrates during December. “You know, people are a little bit kinder,” she explained. “The wonder in children's eyes. The season. The feeling, like, I just — I love everything about it.”

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Danica McKellar

“I DVR a bunch of [Hallmark movies] and then I watched the ones that my friends are in,” the California native exclusively told Us in October 2021 while promoting her film You, Me & The Christmas Tree. “They’re all so fun that it's hard to [watch them all].”

The Matchmaker Mysteries star noted that she wouldn’t be able to do “a whole lot else” if she watched all the network’s programming. “It is so great to have it on when you're cooking, when you're like, you know, wrapping presents,” McKellar added of her holiday tradition.

The Love and Sunshine actress announced in October 2021 that she signed an exclusive multi-picture deal with Great American Media after six years with Hallmark Media.

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Tamera Mowry-Housley

“Lots of hot cocoa makes everything better,” the actress exclusively told Us in November 2020, referring to how she keeps her kids in the holiday spirit. “Watch Christmas movies, Hallmark movies. My son wants to see the one I just did, [Christmas Comes Twice].”

The Santa Stakeout star explained that “music, dancing, playing with toys” are all activities she does with her son, Aden, and her daughter, Ariah, every year. “We can only do what we can do,” Mowry-Housley added. “And as long as my children have a smile on their face, I’m doing something right.”

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Lacey Chabert

“Every Christmas Eve we all get together at my parents' house for a White Elephant-style party,” the Winter in Vail actress exclusively told Us in 2019. “You have to wear your pajamas and we exchange these silly gifts and it ends up being this fun fight over the best one.”

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Ashley Greene

“We're kind of coming up with stuff,” the Charm Bracelet actress exclusively told Us in December 2019, noting that she was “creating [traditions] actively” with her husband, Paul Khoury, ahead of their second married Christmas. “I want to do a baking contest at our house, like a cookie baking contest. So that's going to be one of the things we will do this year.”

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Candace Cameron Bure

“[On] Christmas morning, we always serve at a homeless shelter. We have been doing that for years,” the Christmas Town star exclusively shared with Us in November 2019. “We bring all the food, cook and then sit down with the people that are staying there. It’s usually families.”

The former Hallmark Channel queen of Christmas explained that she later goes to her brother, Kirk Cameron’s house for dinner with their whole family. “We all cook and bring dishes and we sing carols around the living room,” Cameron Bure added. “We usually kind of do, like, a white elephant gift or something, but that’s our traditional Christmas day: lots of family and lots of just good times together.”

The Fuller House alum announced in April 2022 that she was moving to Great American Media after starring in 10 Christmas movies with Hallmark over her more than 10 years on the network.

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Jonathan Bennett

“The traditions in my family were a little too crazy because my family was a little too crazy — and that's why I love being in Hallmark movies,” the Mean Girls star exclusively told Us, referring to his 2018 film Christmas Made to Order. “It gives you this fantasy of what a perfect family is and you get to escape into that.”

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Brooke Shields

“Everybody from Thanksgiving comes to my house mid-December for a Christmas dinner,” the Flower Shop Mysteries star exclusively told Us of her family’s months-long festivities. “I move furniture and I feed all of them and we all spend time at my house and we all make toasts and this year we picked each other out of a hat so instead of getting presents for everybody we each got one person. It was actually a good thing so that's my favorite, mid-December we get to all be together.”