Lifetime announces first Christmas movie featuring LGBTQ+ romance
The Christmas Set Up will focus on an LGBTQ+ romance and air this December.
US channel Lifetime has announced that it will air its first Christmas movie centered around an LGTBQ+ romance this year.
The Christmas Set Up, which is one of 30 new Christmas films Lifetime aims to broadcast this December, will follow high school friends Hugo and Patrick, who reconnect after Hugo's mother Kate organises a contrived run-in with Patrick whilst home for the holidays, according to Glamour.
"As they enjoy the local holiday festivities together, Hugo and Patrick’s attraction to each other is undeniable, and it looks as though Kate’s well-intentioned Santa-style matchmaking is a success," the film's description reads. "But as Hugo receives word of a big promotion requiring a move to London, he must decide what is most important to him."
While The Christmas Set Up, which has not yet been cast, will be Lifetime's first Christmas movie focussing on an LGBTQ+ romance, the network's Twinkle All the Way featured a same-sex kiss between characters played by Brian Sills and Mark Ghanimé.
Other films announced by Lifetime are set to feature 90210's Jason Priestley, Riverdale's Robin Givens, 22 Jump Street's Amber Stevens West, Broadway actress Ali Stroker, Ghostbusters' Ed Begley Jr, Poison Ivy's Cheryl Ladd, Faith Prince, Dynasty's Daniel Di Tomasso and Marco Grazzini as well as Mario Lopez (Saved By The Bell), Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Kelly Rowland (Destiny's Child) and Betty White (Golden Girls).
The network also announced that it will be producing its first Yuletide film focussing on a Chinese-American family, directed by Jennifer Liao and written by Eirene Donohue.
A Sugar & Spice Holiday, which is also yet to be cast, will follow a young architect who returns to their Maine family home for Christmas after her grandmother's death and finds themselves entering a gingerbread house competition.
Lifetime, which is jointly owned by Disney and Hearst, infamously produces a wide range of Christmas movies each year, with the network commissioning 30 new festive films last year, featuring the likes of Marie Osmond and Vanessa Lachey.
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