Something in the Water? Another ‘When Calls the Heart’ Star Shares Baby News
There’s a baby boom in Hope Valley!
On December 12, When Calls the Heart star Chris McNally revealed that he and his partner Julie Gonzalo are expecting their second child.
Chris McNally of ‘When Calls the Heart’ and Julie Gonzalo expecting baby No. 2
The Lucas Bouchard actor made the announcement during an appearance at the Hallmark Christmas Experience in Kansas City (via Instagram).
“Looking back on season 13, there was something going on with our caterers,” he began.
“I don’t know if you knew this. They were giving us something and wouldn’t tell us. We didn’t know at the time. But it’s not one, not two, but three [babies] coming in the spring,” he continued, as he unfurled a series of ultrasound photos.
McNally’s happy news came roughly a month after Kevin McGarry, who plays Nathan Grant on the Hallmark Channel series, and his wife (and former When Calls the Heart cast member) Kayla Wallace were expecting their first child.
A few weeks later, series star Erin Krakow revealed that she was pregnant with her first child with co-star and husband Ben Rosenbaum.
The babies are all due withing six weeks of each other,” McNally said.
“So in season 14, we’ll be opening the Hope Valley nursery,” Rosenbaum quipped.
“And when we all look exhausted, you know why,” McNally added.
‘Chesapeake Shores’ had a baby boom in its final season
This isn’t the first time a Hallmark series has experienced a mini baby boom. During the filming of the final season of Chesapeake Shores in 2022, several of the show’s stars were either pregnant or had just welcomed new babies.
Meghan Ory and Emilie Ullerup were both pregnant while filming Chesapeake Shores Season 6, and Jessica Sipos and Laci J. Mailey had recently given birth.
“[L]iterally everyone who was of pregnancy age this season, the actresses all got pregnant or had babies. Laci and Jessica both had babies right at the beginning of when we shot this season. Meghan and Emilie got pregnant through the course of the season,” showrunner Phoef Sutton told TV Insider.
With cast members growing their families in real life, Sutton says he and the show’s writers were inspired to incorporate that into the final season, particularly with Jess (Mailey), who announced she was pregnant in the finale.
“There was just such an air of pregnancy on the set that it felt right that she would accept being a mother and want to go with that,” he said.
When Calls the Heart Season 13 premieres Sunday, January 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel. Episodes stream the next day on Hallmark+.
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