With the competition cut in half since the premiere of Hallmark’s competition series “Finding Mr. Christmas” in late October, just five handsome and kindhearted contestants remained in the episode that premiered on December 1, 2025. As the network searches for its next leading man, the night’s challenges included filming a picnic scene with longtime Hallmark star Ashley Williams.
The picnic scene sounded cute on the surface, but Williams — who stars in this season’s “An Alpine Holiday” and created Hallmark’s “Make Her Mark” program for aspiring female directors — brought her A-game to the table, forging a palpable connection with each contestant onscreen and subtly helping each one nail their scene. Working with her, all five men did extremely well, but the Hallmark hopeful she called “stunningly handsome” was sent packing.
Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want to know who was sent home and which four remain, stop reading here.
Ashley Williams Deserves a Prize for Guest Judge With Greatest Impact
Episode six kicked off with a laugh-out-loud “Festive Face-Off” challenge in which the final five contestants — Rustin, Davey, Angel, Craig, and Marcus — had to tip toe through an obstacle course at the “Finding Mr. Christmas.” They couldn’t make a peep while carrying a giant Santa bag of presents (Bennett and Peterman’s expressions were priceless throughout!). After Marcus eeked out a win, the men were presented with their “Star Quality” acting challenge for the week.
Bennett told them they’d be shooting an outdoor picnic scene with Hallmark veteran Williams, but there were lots of layers to consider — a key skill for the eventual winner, who will land a leading role in an upcoming Hallmark Christmas movie.
In this scene, Williams and her co-star were supposed to be playing a couple deepening their relationship, given a script they could use as the basis of that connection. But Bennett gave the guys permission to ad-lib or create their own special moments that weren’t in the script, too.
It was impressive watching how Williams, known among Hallmarkies for her bubbly personality and witty charm, instantly put each contestant at ease. She followed their leads so effortlessly in the scenes that potentially awkward moments felt genuine and intentional. Her reactions to the guys’ jokes, romantic gestures, and flirtations made her leading men look like the heroes and definitely elevated their acting skills. Somebody give this woman a prize for guest star with the biggest impact!
Here’s How the ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’ Week 6 Acting Challenge Went
Angel was selected by “Festive Face-Off” winner Marcus to film his scene first, and as Bennett and Peterman watched the scene play out on a nearby monitor, they were floored by how he established an emotional connection with Williams right off the bat. They talked about their late parents and Peterman noted he was “locked in on her eyes.” Then, the moment he gently grabbed Williams’ hand and brushed a strand of hair off her forehead made her (and us) swoon! Hugging Angel after their scene, Williams said she was “super impressed” with him.
Marcus chose to go second, not wanting to get too nervous while waiting for his turn. He was very flirty, prompting Williams to adorably beam, “You just winked at me and I liked it!” It was clear that he was a bit in his head about remembering the lines of the script (even though Bennett had said they were welcome to improvise), but Williams’ brilliant expressions and laughter took center stage, making some of his stilted delivery seem more authentic. When he did finally go off-script, saying he’d invited her family to spend Christmas with them, Williams got emotional and effectively made him the hero.
Next up was Craig, who had a great conversation with Williams before filming began, talking through his thinking on how to approach the scene, including starting it off with a deeper conversation than others had done — with him improvising a story about a girlfriend he’d broken up with. Williams followed his lead and then, when they got to the lines in the script, he pulled them off as if he had just naturally thought of them. When an uninvited extra — a bee — flew near Williams’ head, he jumped up to rescue his damsel in distress. A very Hallmark hunk move! The two geled so well that Peterman noted, “I feel like we’re watching someone’s date and it feels a little wrong!”
New dad Davey admitted he was nervous, but said he was making the bold choice of adding his own 30-second monologue at the end of their scene. Unfortunatley, he kept popping grapes in his mouth from the charcuterie board on their picnic table, which got entirely too distracting as he delivered his lines, prompting Peterman to whisper, “Please don’t eat any more grapes!” He was also so set on delivering his little speech that he wasn’t able to go with the flow of their improv.
Last but not least, Rustin asked his leading lady before they filmed to spend a few moments holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes. A pretty creepy request coming from most strangers, but Bennett said it’s an acting trick for establishing an emotional connection that he, too, would have employed in that situation. It seemed to work, because the two were very conversational and spontaneous with their dialogue to start, and sparks were flying as Rustin compared her favorite molasses cookie to her personality (a task each guy had in the scene).
So Who Won & Who Lost ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’ Week 5?
HallmarkAll of the men did so well during their acting challenge, it was hard to know who would be sent “home for the holidays.” As Bennett, Peterman, and Williams conferred about each contestant, they agreed that Craig brought the goods, with Williams saying that “he came to play” and Bennett noting that he managed to move from being charming to funny in a split second, which he called “the perfect mix of heart and humor.”
At the elimination ceremony, Bennett called forward Marcus and Davey as the bottom two. Williams had described Davey as “stunningly handsome,” joking that she could barely speak while looking at him, but they were all distracted by the grapes and the fact he looked too in his head. Marcus was told that he, too, had come across a bit stiff.
In the end, Davey was sent packing — back to see his wife and their eight-week-old baby. That leaves just four contenders for the next episode, premiering on December 8. In the meantime, catch up on “Finding Mr. Christmas” via Hallmark+.
