The Countdown to Christmas is officially underway, and Hallmark’s search to find the next Mr. Christmas has officially begun!
As the season begins, the 10 men competing as part of the season 2 arrive at a holiday cabin they’ll call home during the competition. The contestants take time to size up the competition as they get to know one another before host Jonathan Bennett arrives to officially kick off the season.
The 10 men are all here competing for the chance to land a leading role in a Hallmark movie, but first they’ll have to prove they have what it takes to become Hallmark’s next leading man. Every week, the men will compete in two challenges: the Festive Face-off, where an advantage will be on the line, and the Star Quality challenge, where they’ll perform alongside some of Hallmark’s biggest stars and after which an elimination will send one contestant home.
Kicking off the season, the 10 men enter Santa’s workshop where they’ll be competing for the part of Santa Claus. For the challenge, each contestant has to come up with a unique persona that brings a piece of them into the role in order to stand out and wow Bennett and judge Melissa Peterman.
After 30 minutes of prep time, the men introduce their Santa personas.
Robbie goes first and channels his love for animals as a dog dad for Santa Claus for the Paws. Next is Gabe who fumbles through his presentation as Penguin Santa as his nerves get the best of him. Rustin goes next and his Rockstar Santa pulls inspiration from his parents having met in a rock band.
We then breeze through some of the guys with Logan’s Wizard Santa, Davey’s Mr. Liftmas, Marcus’s Super Santa, Drake’s Faith and Family Santa, Angel’s Angel Santa, and Jake’s Buff Tuff Santa. Amid the group, we get Craig’s New York Santa, who wows the judges with his personality and walks away with the win.
Janel Parrish drops in to help test out the Finding Mr. Christmas men’s meet cute skills
For the first Star Quality Challenge of the season, the contestants head out to Woodward Park City, where they’ll be competing in a meet cute challenge. Working in pairs, they’ll have to learn their lines quickly and show off their skiing skills as they act opposite star Janel Parrish. For the scene, one contestant will be playing the skier who comes to Parrish’s aid after she’s knocked down by another skier, while the other will play a ski patroller, who enters the scene and wins the girl.
Having won the challenge earlier, Craig gets to select the order in which the teams will be competing for the challenge. Interestingly, he chooses to go last in the challenge with the following pairings and order locked in for the challenge: Davey and Angel, Robbie and Marcus, Logan and Drake, Gabe and Rustin, Jake and Craig.
Starting off, Davey forgets to take his goggles off, which prevents him from truly connecting with Parrish. Enter Angel, who crashes as he comes into the scene; however, he’s able to make the most of it and recover nicely in the scene.
Next, Marcus quickly emerges as a frontrunner, entering the scene smoothly and giving serious leading man qualities. His partner, Robbie, struggles a bit as he messes up his lines, calling Parrish a “beautiful jerk girl,” but he manages to recover.
Like Marcus, Logan brings the charm and the judges notice. Drake, meanwhile, fumbles his entrance as he falls and misses his mark. While he jokes off the fall, in missing his mark, Drake ends up blocking Parrish’s camera by lacking an awareness of the camera marks.
After freezing up in the earlier challenge, nerves again get the best of Gabe who forgets a few of his lines, but he and Rustin impress the judges by being the only pair to really sell the rivalry component of the scene. Rustin impresses the judges as well with a near flawless performance and amazing chemistry with Parrish.
Finally, we have Jake and Craig. Jake struggles to remember many of his lines and the missteps make it hard for him to connect with Parrish in the scene. Craig, though, ends things on a high note with some amazing chemistry with a perfect mix of flirtation.
Who went home first on Finding Mr. Christmas season 2?
Going into elimination, we learn that the top performer in each pair will be safe, while the others will be in danger of going home.
After the judges discuss the performances of each man, they crown Rustin the overall winner. They all love how grounded he was in the scene with Parrish praising him for meeting her in the middle as an equal in the scene. Also safe are Logan, Angel, Craig, and Marcus, which puts Davey, Drake, Gabe, Jake, and Robbie in danger of elimination.
While the judges note that Robbie and Davey struggled with props and flubbed some lines, they both stayed committed in the scene, doing enough to keep them safe. This leaves Jake, Drake, and Gabe in danger of being eliminated. Following some feedback from the judges, Bennett reveals that the first person going home is former NFL star Jake, whose journey comes to a close as the episode draws to an end.