Candace Cameron Bure Says Great American Family Projects Will Focus on 'Traditional Marriage'

Melissa Coulier

Candace Cameron Bure does not expect the Great American Family (GAF) network, which she serves as the chief creative officer for, to feature same-sex couples in its Christmas movies.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Monday, the Fuller House alum, 46, said, "I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core," when asked about the subject.

Bill Abbott, the former Hallmark Channel CEO who now runs GAF, added of featuring same-sex couples: "It's certainly the year 2022, so we're aware of the trends. There's no whiteboard that says, 'Yes, this' or 'No, we'll never go here.' "

A representative for GAF and Bure did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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Bure exited the Hallmark Channel in April — a network she had worked with for over a decade.

The channel currently has plans to air a more diverse lineup this year, including the upcoming movie, The Holiday Sitter, which will feature a main LGBTQ love story.

Bure told the WSJ that the Great American Family has no plans to do the same, but will instead focus on other stories, like that of her first movie with the network, A Christmas ... Present, which will premiere on Great American Family this month.

The movie will see Bure as real estate agent Maggie Larson, described by GAF as "an overly scheduled real estate agent and Type-A mom who takes her family to spend Christmas with her widowed brother and his daughter. Maggie and her brother have decidedly different expectations for the holiday. Through a series of transformative events, Maggie learns to embrace the reason for the season."

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Bure previously starred in 10 holiday-themed movies and 30 films overall for Hallmark's Crown Media.

In a prior statement, Bure explained how Great American Media (GAM), which owns GAF, aligns with her career goals and personal beliefs. "I'm very excited to develop heartwarming family and faith-filled programming and make the kind of stories my family and I love to watch. I am constantly looking for ways that I can inspire people to live life with purpose," she said.

Additionally, Bure said that GAM "fits my brand perfectly," and commented on how the content fits into her lifestyle. "We share a vision of creating compelling wholesome content for an audience who wants to watch programming for and with the whole family. Great, quality entertainment with a positive message is what my partnership with [GAM] is all about."

Now, Bure told the WSJ: "My heart wants to tell stories that have more meaning and purpose and depth behind them. I knew that the people behind Great American Family were Christians that love the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment."

The outlet said that Bure would not speak about her departure from Hallmark Channel, only telling them, "It basically is a completely different network than when I started because of the change of leadership."

And while Hallmark executives declined to comment on Great American Family to the WSJ, a spokeswoman for Hallmark said, "We want all viewers to see themselves in our programming and everyone is welcome."

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Bure had previously echoed similar comments about what type of content GAF will showcase in an interview with Variety earlier this year.

When asked by the publication if the network could create content focused on non-Christian holidays, Bure responded, "Well, this year, we're absolutely focusing on Christmas."

"I'm sure as the channel continues to build content, it will include other holidays, but I think we know the core audience and what they love is exactly how Bill originally built the Hallmark Channel and that was Christmas and those traditional holidays and so that's what the focus is going to be," she continued. "You got to start somewhere. You can't do everything at once."

Abbott, for his part, was previously hopeful that one of Bure's Full House costars, Lori Loughlin, would also join the network, as he previously detailed to Variety. (She has since signed on to star in a TV movie for the network, Fall Into Winter, which will premiere in January 2023.)

"We talk three times a week. We have two scripts that she really likes, one of which we'll greenlight for this year or next year. Lori's a good friend and somebody who we would love nothing more than to do a movie with, and we're hopeful," he said.

"She's America's sweetheart, regardless of whatever happened," Abbott added, referencing how Loughlin, 58, pled guilty and served jail time for her involvement in the 2019 college admissions scandal.