Candace Cameron Bure Celebrates GAF ‘Continuing To Grow’ Despite Christmas Movie Season Controversy
It’s been a notable year for Candace Cameron Bure and her parent company GAF. The company pushed out a slew of additional content during the holiday season this year and weathered a PR storm brought on by comments Bure made about the network focusing on “traditional marriage.” Now, the former Hallmark star is celebrating GAF ‘continuing to grow” in 2023, despite any online controversy.
In a new release from GAF, the network celebrated closing out 2022 as the “fastest growing” network on cable. That growth was reportedly driven by holiday season content, as the network premiered 18 new movies –a 50% increase over the offerings last year. Among those movies was Candace Cameron Bure’s A Christmas…Present, which also starred Marc Blucas. As the news broke, the actress celebrated on her social media, calling it a time of continued growth for the network. She wrote:
In a separate post, Bure also reached out to the GAF fans, writing, “Thank you for finding us and watching Great American Family Channel.” Though it mostly seems to be good news from a viewership front, Bure, and in extension her parent network, has faced flack in recent weeks. The former Fuller House star was actually doing press in relation to the aforementioned A Christmas… Present when she was asked about the differences between GAF and her old parent network Hallmark– a network which Bure left last year.
Bure said at the time of her exit it was related to “contracts” but then this interview rolled around in which Bure spoke about changes that had come to Hallmark programming over time. Conversely, she said she was drawn to GAF because, as she put it, “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.” This sparked responses from other Hallmark stars including Hilarie Burton, but also Jojo Siwa, who had previously called Bure out as someone she’d had a negative Hollywood experience with. The backlash didn’t end there as she and her Fuller House co-star Jodie Sweetin reportedly no longer follow one another.
Bure has called her “faith” an important part of her journey and noted how “going against the grain” has always been a part of her career. Most recently, she also shared in a New Year’s post that her goals in 2023 include the ability to “endure” in the way that Jesus taught her. Though she does not specifically mention backlash she faced in 2022, she did explain that she hopes to find “joy” in the coming year despite any “tria[s]l, hardship and circumstance [s]” she might face. See her full post about the coming year, below.
So, it sounds as if her shift to GAF has been a good fit for her. She’s been able to work toward her goal of “promot[ing] faith programming.” The head of GAF, former Hallmark head honcho, Bill Abbott, has called faith-based programming a market that is “underserved” and these cable numbers do seem to reflect that. This is particularly notable given recent changes at Hallmark, which have included sharing more diverse perspectives.
This year marked several firsts for the rival network’s holiday programming, including airing its first LGBTQ+-led rom-com starring Jonathan Bennett. The two networks really do seem to be pinning themselves oppositely, with cast members signing exclusive deals on both Hallmark and GAF and programming taking separate bents. We’ll keep you updated if this continues in the new year.
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