Hallmark Crowns New Leading Man In ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’ Finale

Please note, this article reveals the winner of ‘Finding Mr. Christmas.’ If you don’t want the finale spoiled, stop reading now.

A full thirty minutes after he was named ‘Mr. Christmas,’ Ezra Moreland admitted that he was still in shock.

“Yeah, I’m still trying to process it, but I have to say it does feel pretty great,” Moreland.

In the series, Hallmark’s first foray into reality competition television, ten men competed in a series of festive challenges in an effort to showcase their acting chops and their holiday spirit. The winner would not only be crowned Mr. Christmas, but he would then go on to star in his own holiday movie,

Jonathan Bennett, who co-created the series and hosted, gave Forbes some insight into the series earlier in the season. Melissa Peterman served as the main judge on the show.

On the season finale, Ezra Moreland, a 31-year-old model and former Navy rescue diver from San Diego, along with fellow finalists Hayden Maher, a native Australian who works as a children’s entertainer, and Elijah Malcomb, a 31-year-old actor and delivery driver from New Jersey, engaged in one more acting challenge, this one included a traditional Hallmark kiss with one of the network’s stars, Nikki DeLoach, and then the trio eagerly awaited Bennett’s announcement of who be named the winner.

Announced as ‘Mr. Christmas,’ Moreland, with no previous acting experience, had gamely stepped in and competed every challenge throughout the season, which included ice skating, ballroom dancing, a shirtless photo shoot — with puppies — and of course, various on-camera scenes, often featuring actual Hallmark stars. as the winner, clearly Moreland had exceeded the judges high standards each time out.

As winner, Moreland earned a leading role in the upcoming holiday movie Happy Howlidays. The film centers on Max (Moreland), the owner of a Seattle dog shelter who falls for a ‘meticulous webpage editor’ named Mia (Jessica Lowndes).

Reflecting on his journey, Moreland says that he felt nervous before every task, but it was the very first acting challenge that made him the most uneasy.

“In that one, we had to sort of compete for the attention of one of Hallmark’s leading ladies with another one of the guys. First, I was a little starstruck to see someone from a movie I’ve seen, but then we had to learn a script in about 15 minutes, there were cameras everywhere and it’s the first time I’ve ever done this. It was so daunting, but I remember telling myself, ‘Just don’t mess up.’”

He laughs a little as he adds, “Afterward, I barely remembered any of it. It was all sort of a hazy memory, even immediately after I did it. But what I do remember is the feeling, the rush that I’d done it. I’d settled myself and I’d done it. That felt pretty great.”

While he adds that, “That challenge really broke me down a bit,” Moreland says that he knew, “from that point forward, there was no way I was going to survive in this competition unless I just took it step by step. So that’s what I did.”

Malcomb who finished in the top three, expounded on Moreland’s assessment regarding the difficultly of the challenges, saying, “I agree that that first acting challenge was so scary. I remember thinking, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ And there were a few other challenges where I just didn’t feel like I did my best because I was so nervous, but then I took a step back and I really listened to what the judges had to say and I worked on really grounding myself before future challenges.”

Although in the end he was the runner up to Moreland, Maher says that, “I still feel like I won, because this was such a fulfilling experience. Coming in, I didn’t realize how life-changing it would be. I got to meet all of these great guys and do all of this amazing stuff. I mean, I knew it would be fun, but what actually happened is beyond anything I could have imagined.”

While Maher wasn’t hesitant to be a part of the show, he points out that, “You know, most reality shows are based around intense conflict, and I knew I didn’t need any more stress in my life, but with this, I think because it was helmed by Hallmark and everyone knows the true sentiment behind their brand, we ended up with 10 guys in a space and there were genuinely no egos, no animosity, no nasty words to each other. Truly, I think people might feel that it is contrived, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

DeLoach, who stepped in during the final episode not only to be in a scene with the men but to mentor them as well, said about the experience, “I love being a mentor. It’s one of my favorite parts of being in the business. I always tell new actors that, ‘if you’ve been in this business long enough, you have had more failures than you’ve had successes. You’ve been told no, way more than you’ve ever been told yes. Your heart will get broken, but you have to spin that into something useful and meaningful.’ So the fact that I got to be even a little piece of their journey means a lot to me.”

Maher, remarking on the power of the Hallmark brand, believes that underneath it all this isn’t simply about a television network. “It’s really about those times when you’ve had a super tough day and if you can sit down and watch a Hallmark holiday movie, you’re either gonna tear up or you’re gonna grab the phone and call somebody you love just to say, ‘hi,’ and I feel like those moments are what empower us to just keep going day by day, trying to be happy and doing the best we can.”

For Moreland, he wants to be clear that Finding Mr. Christmas, for him, “wasn’t just about surviving on this series week after week and winning a competition. It was really about becoming part of a family, the Hallmark family, and that I’m truly proud of.”

All episodes of ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’ are now available on Hallmark+

‘Happy Howlidays’ premieres Saturday, December 21st on the Hallmark channel with early availability beginning Thursday, December 19^th on the Hallmark+ streaming app.