By Sophie Perry
Copyright thepinknews
Ho ho ho homosexuals! Halloween isn’t out the way yet but deck the halls because Hallmark is already teasing an adorable sapphic Christmas film.
The Christmas Baby will air on 21 December on Hallmark Channel as part of its ‘Countdown to Christmas 2025‘ schedule – aka weeks of programming which feature the most deliciously cheesy romance and family films and TV shows.
The film stars Bomb Girls Ali Leibert and and Wynonna Earp‘s Katherine Barrell – both of which played queer characters in their respective roles as Betty McRae and Officer Nicole Haught – as couple Erin (Liebert) and Kelly (Barrell), who unexpectedly find a baby on their doorstep.
We guess a baby dropped being off at your door is certainly cheaper than going through IVF, tbf.
The synopsis for the film reads: “When a baby boy shows up on their doorstep days before Christmas with a note written specially for them, Erin (Liebert) and Kelly (Barrell) must learn how to navigate their new relationship and career dynamics while unexpectedly caring for a newborn.
“As the couple spends more time with the baby as a temporary solution until he can be placed permanently or they can find his mother, they begin to realise that they want to adopt him themselves and go about navigating the complicated world of fostering to adopt all while their business is booming at the busiest time of the year, Christmas.”
Sharing pictures and details about the film on social media, Leibert wrote in an Instagram post that queer fans are “gonna love this one”, adding she is “so proud” of the film.
On her own account, Barrell wrote: “Mark your calendars, buy hot coco in bulk- we’re going BIG!! Think watch party, think BTS release every Friday from the brilliant, beautiful, kind, incredible @aliliebert and I until the main event! We are SO proud of this momentous movie. (Shhhh- word on the street is that our sound team shed happy tears in the audio mix, so you may want some tissues too!)”
Sapphics were, unsurprisingly, super excited by the announcement of this cute flick and the Bomb Girls-Wynonna Earp crossover they never knew they needed.
“When Bomb Girls and Wynonna Earp meet, a Merry Christmas Indeed!!!!👏👏👏,” one user commented.
“I had a fan cast wish for you two together since 2017!!! Weeee!!!,” another wrote.
“Omg, Betty and [Nicole] lol this was probably some kind of fanfic before it was a movie 😂,” a third noted.
Others praised Hallmark for showcasing some LGBTQ+ representation in their Christmas films, which has been increasing in recent years but still remains quite thin on the ground (almost like snow in September).
In 2022, Hallmark released its first ever Christmas film focusing on gay characters when The Holiday Sitter – starring Mean Girls’ Jonathan Bennett – aired.
“It feels like such an honour to kind of forge this movement in the holiday movie space. And the reason I’m doing it is because I think it’s so important that everyone knows that Christmas is for everybody, you know?” Bennett said at the time.
“The Hallmark Channel is for everyone; The Holiday Sitter is for everybody. So to be a part of this movement that is making sure that the people watching these amazing Christmas movies feel like they’re represented on-screen…is so important.”
Leibert’s role in The Christmas Baby is also not her first appearance in a WLW festive film as in 2023 she starred in Friends & Family Christmas, a film which utilised the sapphic fanfic-favourite trope of fake dating.
Liebert, who was also a producer on the film, said at the time she loved the title because was “expanding that vision of what a traditional family can mean”.
“I thought that was a wonderful title for this movie, and I love the fake couple trope. It’s one of my favourite rom-com tropes. I was excited about that and I love how quirky and uptight my character is, so I was looking forward to playing with the comedy of that,” she said.
In December 2023, Hallmark’s vice president of programming, Lisa Hamilton Daly, said the channel was going to be producing more “queer-forward” stories in 2024.
“We really want people to be able to see themselves in our movies, and we know that people seeing themselves means that there’s a wider range of people who really are excited when we tell their stories,” she explained.
