A record-breaking 119 million Americans plan to travel 50 miles or more for the 2024 holidays, according to AAA, and many of Hallmark Channel’s leading men are among them.
Multiple Hallmark hunks told EntertainmentNOW that after the busy holiday season promoting Hallmark’s jam-packed Christmas lineup, they’re excited to unwind over the holidays by traveling with their families. Some are heading to see loved ones while others will celebrate in far away destinations.
Some Hallmark Stars, Like Andrew Walker, Are Not Heading Home for the Holidays
Following a very busy season promoting his movies “Jingle Bell Run” and “Three Wiser Men and a Boy,” longtime Hallmark star Andrew Walker told EntertainmentNOW he planned to head straight from Christmas Con, the popular fan convention held in New Jersey from December 13-15, to meet his wife and their two young sons in Southeast Asia.
Hours after arriving, Walker was scheduled to officiate a vow renewal ceremony for close friends, and then spend the next several weeks exploring the region.
“It’s really exciting,” he told EntertainmentNOW. “We’re doing Thailand, Cambodia, and then Bangkok for Christmas, and then to Singapore for New Year’s. Yeah, it’s amazing.”
On December 19, Walker shared snapshots from their trip in his Instagram Stories, including stunning views from Thailand’s Hong Islands off Krabi and of the dreamy outdoor wedding he officiated.
Benjamin Hollingsworth Took His Family to Fiji for Christmas
Nearly 6,000 miles away from Thailand, Benjamin Hollingsworth was landing in “paradise” with his family. As his latest projects were premiering in the U.S., the actor, his wife, and their three kids arrived for a faraway holiday in Fiji, happy for the chance to have quality time together after a work-heavy year away from home that included filming season 6 of “Virgin River”on Netflix and “Deck the Halls on Cherry Lane” via Hallmark+, both which premiered on December 19.
“I’ve done two Christmas movies (this year), so I’ve had my fill of eggnog and the jingling of bells,” Hollingsworth joked to EntertainmentNOW. “So this year, I’m taking my family to Fiji. We’re staying at this beautiful resort there that’s got its own private island.”
“I often am away from my family for a chunk (of time) to shoot these movies, so it’s really important that we go somewhere where I’m not going to have any other distractions,” he added. “I can just be there fully for them. As much as I love having a family Christmas where it’s, like, everyone from our extended family, this year I thought that because I’ve been so far away from the kids so much that I want to be with just them. It’ll be a sandy Christmas for me, but I’m welcoming it with a full heart.”
In between posting Instagram Stories that promoted his series and movie premieres, Hollingsworth posted a photo of one of his sons on a boat as they approached the island. He wrote, “Meanwhile, in other news…we’ve arrived in paradise.”
Other Hallmark Hunks Will Travel in the U.S. With Family for Christmas
Other Hallmark hunks won’t travel quite as far as Walker and Hollingsworth, but still have plans to travel over the holidays.
Kristoffer Polaha won’t be traveling quite as far as Walker or Hollingsworth, but told EntertainmentNOW that his family — wife Julianne and their three teenage boys, who did join him in Iceland in the spring during the filming of 2024’s “The Christmas Quest” — will spend Christmas in Mississippi, where his brother-in-law now lives.
“It’s their first year living there, so we’re gonna go and ring in the holidays Mississippi style,” he said, smiling. “We’ll see what that looks like! Maybe some trout fishing, maybe some ice on the trees if there’s an ice storm — I don’t know!”
Canadian Benjamin Ayres, star of 2024’s “The Santa Class,” told EntertainmentNOW that his Toronto-based family — wife Erin and their two school-aged daughters — will have a “big dinner on Christmas Day” and carve out time for skiing before heading on a family trip to New York City.
“We love to do a bit of traveling,” he said. “It’s a good time to go see friends and family, and my oldest loves New York.”
Meanwhile, former Hallmark hunk Cameron Mathison, who left the network in late 2024 for a deal with Great American Family, told EntertainmentNOW at Christmas Con that this will be his first Christmas without his kids, given his split from his wife Vanessa earlier in the year.
Mathison explained, “It’s my first holidays without my kids in 21 years. They’re going to be with their mom, which is going to be new for me. This is a new chapter, but I’m going to make the most of it.”
Mathison said he’ll spend Christmas skiing in Colorado with his dad, explaining, “I’m going to open presents on Christmas morning with him and his wife and then I’m going to hit the slopes. So I will be skiing on Christmas Day. It’ll be the only way that I can kind of get through not being there with my kids.”
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