Tonight, a new Mr. Christmas is crowned, and I have to admit I am a little sad about it. Why? Because it means this season of the show is coming to an end, we’re one step closer to the 2025 Christmas season coming to an end.
While this season of Finding Mr. Christmas has been somewhat controversial, it’s definitely also been the better of the two seasons. The finalists – Craig, Rustin, and Angel have journeyed through many challenges and have learned a lot with every step. As I sit here and write this, I have the season finale queued up on my computer to watch. I didn’t want to walk into the interview with the three of them having any notion of who won.
Mostly because it would be all I would want to speak of.
As I pulled my knees into my chest, I had to think of what this experience would have been like. I don’t think that any of us could really know what the experience was like for any of them, but you could tell by watching the show that each one of the three put their heart and soul into this show.
And gave it everything. We spoke about their moms, the show, and what they learned.
Fangirlish: My favorite episode of the season was the one where your guy’s moms showed up. I cried for an hour. Thank you. I want to know, with it being so close to the end of your experience, when your mom came, how much of a motivation was that for you to knock out the finals? What was your favorite part about your mom showing up?
Angel: If I can say that, seeing my mom after months of not seeing her – I think the last time I saw her was six, seven months ago, when we filmed the show. Seeing her, I loved that moment. That’s by far my favorite moment, seeing my mom, having her on national television, and speaking to her in Spanish. Introducing her to all the guys and their moms. What a lovely, memorable experience. Thank you, Hallmark. Thank you, Jonathan Bennett.
Craig: It was definitely really cool. We got the opportunity to all hang out outside of filming as well. We all went to breakfast together. Man, these guys know that was one of the coolest moments of the entire filming process. The fact that it wasn’t on camera, we could all talk about the experience we just had. That was something that stands out for me. Too bad they didn’t have a little camera spying on us, because there would have been some good stuff. That was awesome.
Rustin: Absolutely. I would say that not only was my favorite moment in the shooting of this season, but also, probably, I think maybe one of my favorite moments of my entire life. I think my mom’s been my biggest supporter by leaps and bounds. My dad would argue that he’s the biggest supporter, but my mom, we have such a connection when it comes to watching Hallmark movies and baking cookies together and the holidays.
I know that she was probably just absolutely losing her mind trying to keep that from me when they were flying her out. She was getting to be there in person, waiting to be on set with us. We literally had no idea. The moment that they open the door and they come in, that’s the very first time that we get to find out that they’re actually going to be there. It was a pretty incredible moment.
Fangirlish: How hard was it to open up on camera and really show different sides of yourself, knowing that you would be vulnerable to the whole world and people would have opinions?
Rustin: For me in particular, that’s something that comes really naturally for me. I think there are some other things that I’ve learned along the way that were things that I’m not as familiar with. The vulnerability, first and foremost, is something that I have been able to offer myself and the relationships that I have with people around me. I think that’s probably one of my superpowers. I really like being able to be vulnerable so that other people feel comfortable being able to be vulnerable with themselves and with me.
Craig: For me, it was a bit tougher. I’ve been acting for 10 years now. I started out as the stoic football player. I had a long way to go, and I have. I’ve grown exponentially. I still need to continue to grow in this area, vulnerability, but it definitely showed through in this episode. It was a lot of ugly crying. I put lipstick on national TV. I said, Mommy, I did all the things, but it was worth it.
Angel: My family laughed at that. It was like, “What is she doing with lipstick?” My sister was just losing it. [laughter] I came into the first episode a little shy. I didn’t know what to expect. Then, after meeting the guys and seeing how great they were, Jonathan told all of us, “Guys, loosen up. We’re making great TV for America. You have to just bring your personality and be you.” After episode two, I started just opening up and just being silly, saying things. Yes, it was a lot of fun to just evolve with each episode.
Fangirlish: It felt like you guys were like one big brotherhood who came together and really put 100% in and pushed each other to open when you weren’t or to do — I know there’s competition, but I didn’t feel the competition. I don’t know if that was just really good acting, but saying that, how hard were eliminations and not knowing where you stood, knowing that you want this so much?
Rustin: I’m glad that it translates on camera to the audience because that’s exactly how it felt in person. Actually, the irony of that is that the more that we were a brotherhood, the more that we were able to support each other in this experience. It actually brought the best out of us, which just made us each more competitive in what we were bringing to every one of the challenges. We were essentially leveling each other up to be better competition against each other. It came from a place of love and support. Which is where it’s supposed to come from.
Fangirlish: Knowing what you learned from the show and then knowing what you may or may not have seen afterwards, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about yourself from this experience?
Angel: I could say that I learned to let go. I came into this competition knowing that a lot of people were going to come in with a lot of talent and background. I’ve been in this industry for 12 years, and I’ve learned so much from my peers and whatnot. One thing that sometimes happens to me, I self-sabotage myself, and I start thinking of my accent. I start second-guessing. I learned if I let go and just focus on being present and learning from my peers, allowing them to shine, it will naturally happen for me. That was the biggest lesson on this show.
Craig: I guess something for me is the scene with Ali, the scene with Janel, the scene with Sharon, the scene with all of our co-stars; it’s not about us. It’s about them. If we all remember that, that is going to take us a really, really long way.
Fangirlish: I love that. And you, Rustin?
Rustin: I would say that being vulnerable is something that I’ve generally felt very comfortable with. I think taking bigger risks, one of the things that I learned from watching Craig: just go for it, just try things, just playing. I think sometimes I have a tendency to lean into my strengths, which is something I think we’re supposed to do to some degree, but sometimes it might be helpful to just lean into your weaknesses and explore with those to be able to create new experiences that are fresh for you in front of the camera. As an actor, obviously, that’s a skill set. Taking risks, that would be something that I learned from this experience.
Fangirlish: Now, the easiest question I’m going to ask is, what’s your guys’ favorite holiday tradition?
Angel: I love playing White Elephant with my family. There are so many. I think this Christmas we’re about to be 40. 40 people with gifts changing and stealing. Especially the little ones, they get so excited. It gets so loud. I just sit back and just watch and take pictures with my brand. It’s like these are the moments that are forever in my heart. Sometimes you never get to see those people again, for A, B reasons. It’s just that I can’t wait for this Christmas to do that.
Craig: I’m going to give a very bro-y answer. The holidays often have a lot of sports. On TV, Thanksgiving, you’ve got football. Christmas is all basketball, all day long. I’m a huge sports fan. My whole family is. It comes from my dad. There’s always sports on the TV. This year, we may have to have two TVs, Hallmark on one and sports on the other, for your viewing experience, dual TVs.
Rustin: Over the years, we’ve had cookie exchanges. Everyone just being in the kitchen and everyone bringing their own recipes and making cookies all together. Having Hallmark on and my mom baking cookies, or us doing that as a big family, those have been my favorite traditions.
Fangirlish: Thank you guys so much for your time. I’m really excited to see what happens. Congratulations to all of you for making it this far.
