What To Know About A Royal Christmas Crush, The Hallmark Flick That Led Katie Cassidy And Stephen Huszar To Real-Life Romance

One of the hottest upcoming Hallmark movies to hit this schedule may be a bit icier than expected for this time of year. A Royal Christmas Crush is hitting Hallmark as part of a very merry month of programming, and its two leads Katie Cassidy and Stephen Huszar recently admitted they are in a romance in real life to boot. Talk about finding your Prince Charming on set, am I right?

I hope you are prepared to hop from myriad June wedding plotlines to a whole host of ice sculptures and probably some hot chocolate, because the most merry time of the year is coming a bit early this year. I for one, am stoked.

When Does A Royal Christmas Crush Air?

A Royal Christmas Crush will hit the 2023 TV schedule on Saturday, July 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. While it’s not exactly Christmas movie season, the film is a brand new holiday movie and is being aired alongside some classic Hallmark favorites as part of its Christmas in July schedule.

Who’s In The Cast For A Royal Christmas Crush?

There are a slew of familiar faces in this upcoming summer movie. They include some familiar Hallmark names, as well as some newcomers to the holiday movie genre (including the former Arrow star herself). Take a look at the cast list:

• Katie Cassidy

• Stephen Huszar

• Angela Besharah

• Kathryn Kohut

• Charlie Ebbs

• Alice Hamid

• Pip Dwyer

• Glenn Edward Gyorffy

So, where have you seen the two leads before? Huszar has appeared in Letterkenny, Fringe, Supernatural and the Hallmark original series Chesapeake Shores, but his resumé is populated with a slew of Hallmark original movies. Among these I particularly enjoy the mystery franchise A Ruby Herring Mystery, but he’s in plenty more Christmas flicks. Try prioritizing the Christmas favorite films Time for us to Come Home For Christmas opposite Lacey Chabert and Return to Christmas Creek opposite Tori Anderson.

Katie Cassidy is most known for her work in the Arrow-verse, particularly on its flagship series Arrow, where she played Laurel Lance. She’s had other high-profile TV gigs on Melrose Place and in Gossip Girl, and now she’s in her first ever Hallmark movie! Next up, Cassidy reportedly has her first big directorial effort in the works.

How A Real-Life Romance Came About On The Set Of A Royal Christmas Crush

Huszar and Cassidy have been doing press for their Christmas in July flick in recent weeks. The two admitted they’d kept their romance a secret on set while A Royal Christmas Crush was filming; in fact, they were strangers when the new movie started filming. But as Cassidy told Us Weekly previously: “When chemistry is there, it’s just there.”

The two ultimately kept things low key and professional on set (per their own words). Then, in June, after the movie had filmed, it was Katie Cassidy who went Instagram official with her new beau, sharing in a post “Welp, cat’s out of the bag.”

She really did find her “Prince” Charming. No really, as her new beau plays a literal Prince in their new TV movie. Cassidy’s character Ava will accept a job at a royal ice hotel. I’m sure there’s some sort of heart melting pun to be found, here, but I think you get the gist.

Katie Cassidy also recently spoke about her character finding her "prince" in an interview with Us Weekly. She joked it was really her co-star's nice jawline that would catch anyone's attention, leading to sparks.

I mean, when it comes to jawlines, she's not wrong.

What’s Next For Hallmark?

The network has not one but two new original movies hitting the Christmas in July schedule. The next one, Take Me Back for Christmas, will star Vanessa Lengies and Corey Sevier. That flick will hit the schedule on July 15 at 8 p.m. ET. Plus, there are a slew of other fun holiday-themed movies you may or may not have seen before hitting the schedule all month.