Actress Lori Laughlin Returns To Work After Stint In Jail!
Deadline reports.
Lori Loughlin To Reprise ‘When Calls the Heart’ Character In Season 2 Of ‘When Hope Calls’ On GAC Family In Acting Return
…Lori Loughlin is returning to acting. The former When Calls the Heart star will reprise her popular character from the Hallmark Channel series, Abigail Stanton, on spinoff When Hope Calls, which is coming back for a second season on a new network, GAC Family. Loughlin will appear in the two-part Season 2 premiere titled When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas, slated to air on Saturday, Dec. 18.
Loughlin was last seen on TV as Abigail in Season 6 of Hallmark Channel’s hit series When Calls the Heart before she was let go over her involvement in the college admissions scandal. The actress, who is on probation after serving a two-month sentence, sparked speculation that she may be returning to work last week following a Mercury News report that she had been given permission by a Boston federal judge to travel to Canada for about a week in late September-early October for “a filming production project.”
Having Loughlin on board for the Season 2 premiere in her return to acting after a year and a half is certain to bring attention to When Hope Calls — as well as GAC Family, which launched yesterday, Sept. 27 with the tagline “Stories Well Told.” Formerly Great American Country, the newly rebranded channel is run by President & CEO Bill Abbott, former CEO of Hallmark Channel parent Crown Media Family Networks, who is taking a page out of his old playbook in shaping GAC Family’s brand as a home of family-friendly, holiday-themed movies and series.
Season 2 of When Hope Calls, whose first season aired as the first original on Hallmark Channel’s streaming service Hallmark Movies Now, marks the first original series for GAC Family. Series’ star Morgan Kohan is back, reprising her role as Lillian Walsh, with additional cast, believed to include RJ Hatanaka, to be announced soon.
When Hope Calls, which films in Ontario, Canada, is set in Brookfield, a town on the western prairie. In When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas, Part 1, Brookfield hosts a Christmas festival as one of three contenders in Harper’s Bazaar’s search for America’s #1 Country Christmas Town. The entire town is preoccupied with creating the essence of Christmas for the photojournalist’s lens, though, behind the scenes, residents are not living the spirit of the season. In the midst of the fuss, a stagecoach appears, and out steps Abigail Stanton and her son, Cody (Carter Ryan), who have brought a troubled boy to Lillian’s (Kohan) orphanage.
In When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas, Part 2, photojournalist Paul Franklin is wrapping his stay in Brookfield. By now, he blends in as the town prepares for Christmas Eve. Lillian, the orphans, and Gabriel (Hatanaka) are running out of options to restore the troubled boy’s hope for better times. Just when all seems lost, a secret Santa appears to fulfill all holiday wishes, and Abigail has a profound conversation with a dear friend from the past. Meanwhile, Paul’s lens is recording every miraculous moment.
Executive Producers of When Hope Calls are Brad Krevoy, Brian Bird, Michael Landon, Jr., Alfonso H. Moreno, Kaitlyn Greenough, and David Anselmo. Producer is Kym Crepin. Supervising Producers are W. Michael Beard and Michael Shepard. Director is Bradley Walsh. The spinoff series is created by Alfonso H. Moreno.
Following its debut on Hallmark Movies Now, When Hope Calls Season 1 also aired on the linear Hallmark Channel, with the premiere averaging 2 million total viewers.
With backing from investors, Abbott acquired the Great American Country network, a staple of country music fans, from Discovery, in June, along with Ride TV, a 24-hour, high-definition network for equestrian sports, culture and lifestyle. The Great American Country network has been rebranded as GAC Family, while Ride TV is becoming GAC Living, a non-scripted companion network.
Abbott, who ran Hallmark Channel’s parent company for 11 years before his January 2020 exit amid controversy, is taking on his former network with GAC Family, which is not only featuring similar programming but also some of the same talent. GAC Family will kick off its holiday lineup on Oct. 24, with a special, Welcome to Great American Christmas hosted by Debbie Matenopoulos and Cameron Mathison, former hosts of Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family. The upstart network also has on tap nine holiday movies, including The Great Christmas Switch, Royally Wrapped for Christmas and Christmas is You, with more on the way.
Loughlin, who also exited Netflix’s Fuller House in the wake of the college admissions scandal, is making a return to the spotlight alongside her daughter, Olivia Jade, who is on the current season of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.
USA adds.
Lori Loughlin ‘Can’t Wait’ to Return to ‘When Calls the Heart’ Spinoff After College Admissions Scandal
Ready to go back to work. Following her part in the college admissions scandal, Lori Loughlin has found her first acting gig on the When Calls the Heart spinoff series, When Hope Calls.
Will Lori Loughlin’s Abigail Ever Return to ‘When Calls the Heart’?
Days after Us Weekly confirmed the 57-year-old Full House alum would reprise her role as Abigail Stanton on the second season of the Hallmark-turned-GAC drama, a source exclusively reveals that the New York native is more than ready to return to acting.“Lori can’t wait to get back to work, she has been waiting a long time to get back on set,” the insider exclusively tells Us. “Lori is looking forward to the future and is ready to get back to filming When Hope Calls.”
The source also reveals that the When Calls the Heart alum missed the Hallmark cast and crew in her absence, revealing that she is “passionate” about the series.
Loughlin’s character is set to appear in the upcoming season 2 premiere of When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas, which is set to air on December 18 on GAC Family.
The Summerland alum was first written off the period series after she was indicted in the national college admissions scandal in March 2019. During the investigation, she and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were accused of paying bribes to secure their daughters — Olivia Jade and Bella Giannulli — admission to the University of Southern California. The pair later pled guilty and served brief stints in prison.
On the show, Abigail left Hope Valley to care for her ailing mother “back East” after appearing in the first six seasons of the series.
“We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations,” Crown Media Family Networks announced Loughlin’s departure via a statement to Us at the time. “We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels involving Lori Loughlin including Garage Sale Mysteries, an independent third party production.”
Shortly after the 90210 alum exited the series, executive producer Brian Bird opened about the difficult decision to write the actress — who had been a part of the show since season 1 — out of upcoming episodes.
“Life throws all of us painful curveballs, and the only way to survive is to walk right through them with courage, grace, a forgiving spirit, and most of all, hope,” he wrote via Instagram in April 2019. “Many of you have wondered what the future holds for our cast and crew, and for the citizens of Hope Valley. Your care and concern means the world to us, and the best way we can thank you is to encourage you the way you encourage us because… Hope always lives here.”
After the scandal, Loughlin’s 22-year-old daughter has also returned to the public eye as a contestant on season 30 of Dancing With the Stars. Olivia Jade, who is currently partnered with Val Chmerkovskiy on the dancing competition, previously told reporters how her mom has been by her side during her latest endeavor.
Ready to go back to work. Following her part in the college admissions scandal, Lori Loughlin has found her first acting gig on the When Calls the Heart spinoff series, When Hope Calls.
Will Lori Loughlin’s Abigail Ever Return to ‘When Calls the Heart’?
Days after Us Weekly confirmed the 57-year-old Full House alum would reprise her role as Abigail Stanton on the second season of the Hallmark-turned-GAC drama, a source exclusively reveals that the New York native is more than ready to return to acting.“Lori can’t wait to get back to work, she has been waiting a long time to get back on set,” the insider exclusively tells Us. “Lori is looking forward to the future and is ready to get back to filming When Hope Calls.”
The source also reveals that the When Calls the Heart alum missed the Hallmark cast and crew in her absence, revealing that she is “passionate” about the series.
Loughlin’s character is set to appear in the upcoming season 2 premiere of When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas, which is set to air on December 18 on GAC Family.
The Summerland alum was first written off the period series after she was indicted in the national college admissions scandal in March 2019. During the investigation, she and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were accused of paying bribes to secure their daughters — Olivia Jade and Bella Giannulli — admission to the University of Southern California. The pair later pled guilty and served brief stints in prison.
On the show, Abigail left Hope Valley to care for her ailing mother “back East” after appearing in the first six seasons of the series.
Two Years After the College Admissions Scandal: Where Are They Now?
“We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations,” Crown Media Family Networks announced Loughlin’s departure via a statement to Us at the time. “We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels involving Lori Loughlin including Garage Sale Mysteries, an independent third party production.”Shortly after the 90210 alum exited the series, executive producer Brian Bird opened about the difficult decision to write the actress — who had been a part of the show since season 1 — out of upcoming episodes.
“Life throws all of us painful curveballs, and the only way to survive is to walk right through them with courage, grace, a forgiving spirit, and most of all, hope,” he wrote via Instagram in April 2019. “Many of you have wondered what the future holds for our cast and crew, and for the citizens of Hope Valley. Your care and concern means the world to us, and the best way we can thank you is to encourage you the way you encourage us because… Hope always lives here.”
After the scandal, Loughlin’s 22-year-old daughter has also returned to the public eye as a contestant on season 30 of Dancing With the Stars. Olivia Jade, who is currently partnered with Val Chmerkovskiy on the dancing competition, previously told reporters how her mom has been by her side during her latest endeavor.
“My mom’s been a huge support,” the influencer said earlier this month. “She’s in total mom mode, like, ‘Make sure you take an Epsom salt bath.’ She’s trying to get me to take an ice bath! I’m like, ‘I don’t need an ice bath yet!’ My sister [Bella] has been telling me she wants to come to every single show.”
More on this sordid saga here.
Will viewers have mercy on Lori Loughlin?
