When the heart calls Fans will be able to spend even more time with the residents of Hope Valley!
ET can exclusively announce that Hallmark Channel’s acclaimed romantic drama has been renewed for a 12th season. The exciting news comes just over a month ago after the start of Season 11 on April 7th.
The upcoming season will consist of 12 episodes – following a trend that first began in Season 8 – and production is scheduled to begin in July.
A press release from Hallmark Channel states, “With more stories to tell in Hope Valley, Season 12 continues with themes of family, community and, of course, romance as we move further into the 1920s.”
“When the heart calls continues to exceed our expectations and the number of fans and viewers continues to grow each year,” said Lisa Hamilton Daly, executive vice president of programming, in the press release.
“Bringing Season 12 to life is a huge milestone and a true testament to the hard work and dedication of the cast and crew over the last decade,” Daly continued. “We can’t wait for the next chapter of Hope Valley filled with exciting characters and stories!”
Now a series star and executive producer Erin Krakow expressed her excitement and shared, “I am over the moon about it When the heart calls is coming back for a 12th season!”
“Our amazing writers, cast and crew couldn’t be more excited to start filming the next season!” Krakow added. “We are proud to tell stories that warm the hearts of people around the world and are grateful to Hallmark for championing that positivity.”
Before the Season 11 premiere ET sat down with Krakow WCTH takes place in Vancouver, Canadaand she opened up about the journey her character, Elizabeth Thornton, will take over the course of the season – particularly in light of her budding romance with Nathan Grant (Kevin McGarry) – after her decision to break off her engagement to Lucas Bouchard (Chris McNally).
“Nothing is official. “I think that would feel way too soon,” Krakow said of the budding romance. “We want to respect the fact that Elizabeth and Lucas had a very real and loving relationship. As it turns out, it just wasn’t meant for Elizabeth or Luca’s lifetime, so we respect that.” “
“You’re waiting for the right moment,” Krakow teased. “And of course things come up along the way that interrupt that. But yeah, it’s a slow burn. We’ll take our time… the first time Elizabeth and Nathan see each other.” [after the split], you have the feeling that sparks are flying. But even when those sparks fly, they still take their time.”
“Nathan confessed his love in Season 8. But Elizabeth doesn’t know for sure if he still has feelings for her,” she added, “and I think Nathan doesn’t want to assume that just because Elizabeth and Lucas broke up, he has feelings for him. So it’s a kind of dance.
Regarding Elizabeth’s relationship with Lucas, Krakow said that the breakup shows how much Elizabeth has learned about herself.
“The more we learned about Elizabeth’s heart, the more she learned about it, the more we came to realize that her relationship with Lucas – although beautiful, loving and respectful – made Elizabeth prefer safe love to great love.” because “She just couldn’t bring herself to risk losing someone she thought she could love so much,” said Krakow, who also serves as an executive producer on the long-running romantic drama. “I think she’s really been in denial about it for a long time, and now she’s finally gotten to a point where she can really be honest about her feelings.”
“And that’s a really scary, exciting, authentic love,” she added. “So I’m excited about it.”
When the heart calls airs Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on Hallmark Channel.
RELATED CONTENT: