scrooge-y co-star

Luke Macfarlane opens up about working with former Hallmark homophobe Candace Cameron Bure

By · 14 comments
Image Credit: ‘A Shoe Addict’s Christmas,’ The Hallmark Channel

If you’re a longtime reader of Queerty, you know that we’re fond of hunky, out Bros star Luke Macfarlane, and we especially love the fact that he has starred in over a dozen Hallmark Channel movies—where, yes, he frequently plays straight.

Though the network has come a long way in being more inclusive to LGBTQ+ stories—especially during the holidays—there’s just something to the idea of smoking hot gay stud essentially “infiltrating” one of the most heteronormative subgenres!

In any event, it’s a gig that’s essentially made Macfarlane the King Of Christmas. So it’s fitting that, over the holidays, the actor appeared as a special guest on the Tosh Show podcast, where he gave a particularly juicy interview to host and comedian Daniel Tosh.

(Remember Daniel Tosh, by the way? For years he hosted Comedy Central’s Tosh.0, where he mostly stood in front of a green screen and made snarky comments about internet videos, and he was… divisive, to say the least.)

As it turns out, Tosh is a major Hallmark movie fan, so he was positively giddy to have a Hallmark all-star like Macfarlane on the show. And, in turn, the host’s clear reverence for the genre seemed to put the actor at ease, meaning he had no issue spilling some piping hot cocoa holiday movie tea.

For instance, did you know that Macfarlane’s making bank from these? Even if you adore these movies, you can admit that they seem like fairly low-budget, low-commitment affair. Noting this, Tosh asked the actor if he got paid more for something like Single All The Way—Netflix‘s 2021 gay holiday rom-com, which seemingly had a bigger budget and is certainly a starrier affair than most Hallmark offerings.

“Was the paycheck bigger [than Hallmark]?” Tosh asked.

“Smaller.” Macfarlane admitted, sharing that his “rate goes up” with each successive project. “It is a nice thing. They have to air a certain amount of time before you start getting [any money]… So, if you end up doing one of the ones that hits and is popular, it gets aired more and more. So, you eventually get residuals.”

Related:

Hunky gay ‘Bros’ star Luke Macfarlane was the straight man—literally—in a dozen Hallmark movies

Taking a look back at Luke Macfarlane’s successful career playing the love interest in Hallmark movie after Hallmark movie after…

Suddenly, we see why an actor might keep coming back to Hallmark year after year—they want that sweet, sweet Christmas dough! A holiday bonus!

And surely that impressive paycheck has to help sweeten the deal when Macfarlane has had to star opposite someone like Candance Cameron Bure—who has a track record oh thinly veiled homophobia—right?

Before she jumped ship for the more “family friendly values” of the Great American Family network *eyeroll*, Bure starred opposite Macfarlane in the ridiculously titled A Shoe Addict’s Christmas, which Tosh also couldn’t help but ask about:

“What about Candace Cameron Bure? Does she stick her nose up at everybody?” the host wondered aloud.

“I… I will admit that I was nervous to work with her, but she could not have been more lovely,” Macfarlane replied.

“She probably doesn’t approve of your lifestyle,” Tosh cracked, referencing the times Bure has expressed her intent to focus on projects that keep “traditional marriage” at their core.

And though Macfarlane sweared it was never brought up, Tosh didn’t let him off easy, saying, “I would talk about it immediately.”

“She has a lot of gay friends,” Macfarlane said as he nervously chugged from a mug, clearly ready to change the subject. We can’t help but feel like he was biting his tongue a bit—but maybe didn’t want to shade a former network sister on mic.

Related:

C-List homophobe Candace Cameron Bure hopes new gay-denying film gets viewers to “turn to Jesus”

The holiday has-been is promoting a religious film that erases one of its subjects’ real-life homosexuality completely.

Elsewhere in the conversation, the conversation turned to past celebrity crushes, and Macfarlane shamelessly admitted his was Mark Wahlberg, which prompted a sound of disgust from Tosh: “Ugh, a racist? What is wrong with you?”

Macfarlane laughed at getting called out for his problematic crush, but Tosh—once again—didn’t let him off the hook. “He had a hate crime under his belt, so I don’t ever let people forget that. I always think about that. You know who didn’t do that when they were in college?”

“A lot of people,” Macfarlane responded. Exactly! So, maybe next time he’ll be able to come up with a less problematic celeb to thirst over.

@daniel_tosh mark wahlberg #toshshow #danieltosh ♬ original sound – daniel tosh

And, you know what? Good on Tosh for calling that out! On TikTok, a clip of the moment has gone viral to the tune of 3.2M views and counting, with plenty of commenters chiming in to commend the host for saying something. “The Daniel Tosh GLOW UP,” one user writes—are we going to have to start stanning?

You can listen to the rest of Luke Macfarlane and Daniel Tosh’s conversation in the latest episode of the Tosh Show podcast, or watch it on YouTube above.

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Once Monthly Annually

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated