Heavy Hallmark stars are celebrating a new baby in the family
There’s a new baby in Hope Valley! On the evening of November 19, 2024, longtime “When Calls The Heart” star Andrea Brooks, who plays Dr. Faith Carter on the hit Hallmark Channel series, announced via social media that she’s a new mom again.
The good news comes less than three months after Brooks, 35, revealed to fans that she was expecting her third child while filming the show’s 12th season, hoping she’d make it through the shoot before going into labor.
Much to the delight of her Hallmark colleagues and fans, Brooks’ November 19 post featured a black and white photo of herself snuggling her newborn, who arrived right on time. Brooks captioned the post, “Baby Angus. Earthside.”
Andrea Brooks Was Very Relieved She Didn’t Deliver Before Wrapping Filming
Brooks and her husband, Vancouver-based corporate finance advisor Riley Graydon, welcomed daughter Viola in November 2019 and son Levon in December 2022, per Us Weekly.
Fortunately, Baby Angus waited to arrive until his mom had wrapped filming her final scene of WCTH’s next season on November 8. During her last weeks of filming, Brooks shared photos from the set of herself “bumping along” and doing her best to hide her growing waist.
On the last day of filming the new season, which will premiere on January 5, WCTH co-star Pascale Hutton shared a photo of her and Brooks in her Instagram Stories and wrote, “She made it folks! It’s a miracle! That’s a wrap on @andreakbrooks”
Brooks shared the photo to her own Stories and added, “Update: Did not go into labour on set!!!! That’s a wrap for me on s12 folks!!! ❤️❤️❤️”
She also managed to squeeze in a maternity photo shoot and share a collection of her favorite photos, which had her co-stars swooning over her looks and poses.
Hallmark Stars Shower Andrea Brooks With Love Over Baby’s Arrival
Brooks’ baby announcement on Instagram was flooded with comments from fans and fellow stars, thrilled to see she and little Angus were safe and sound.
Erin Krakow, who plays WCTH’s lead character Elizabeth Thornton, commented, “So happy for you all! & I love this shot!”
WCTH castmate Viv Leacock, who has three kids — including two who are also part of the WCTH cast — wrote, “There you go!!! Congrats, lil sis!!! Welcome to the 3 kid club!! ❤️❤️❤️”
The account for Hyland Goodrich, who plays little Jack on WCTH, left a comment that said, “Yay!! 🤗Congratulations!! 🥰🤍✨”
Brooks, who has also starred in Hallmark movies like 2023’s “A Lifelong Love,” heard from Hallmark stars beyond the WCTH family, too.
Lacey Chabert wrote, “Congratulations!!!! So happy for you 💜” and Rachel Boston chimed in, “Welcome to the world!!!!!!!!!!”
Prolific Hallmark screenwriter Nina Weinman also weighed in with, “Oh honey I’m so happy for you!!! I love Angus!!! ❤️❤️❤️”
With filming on WCTH done, Brooks can now enjoy time off to focus on being a mom — something she told TV Fanatic has completely changed her life, including her appreciation for the kind of programming Hallmark produces.
“It changes everything,” Brooks told the outlet. “It upends absolutely everything in your life. Since becoming a mom, my roles, especially in the Hallmark movies, have meant so much more to me.”
She continued, “There’s something to be said about family values and the entertainment space. My three-year-old can watch one of these movies, and she does; she does watch episodes of ‘When Calls the Heart.’ She watches pieces of the movies that I do, and that we can share that experience is amazing.”
When WCTH’s next season premieres in January, fans will likely be watching for signs of Brook’s progressing pregnancy, but she and the crew tried their best hide it from cameras with props and wardrobe. On October 31, she wrote on Instagram, “I do love hiding behind a Dr’s coat whenever possible. The extra extra large Dr’s bag is getting a little heavy these days!”
Liv Lane is an entertainment writer who covers the Hallmark Channel, HGTV, American Idol and The Voice for Heavy. Based in Minneapolis, she has three decades of experience as a local and national radio host, columnist and publicist, interviewing and working with a wide range of celebrities over the years, from Deepak Chopra to Lil Nas X. More about Liv Lane