Heavy Three new game shows hosted by Hallmark alums, including Cameron Mathison, are coming to GSN.
Three well-known Hallmark movies alumni — Cameron Mathison, Brooke Burns, and Jaleel White — are ready to step into new roles, hosting a trio of new game shows, according to an April 2 announcement by Game Show Network (GSN), per Deadline.
Though Burns is already a GSN regular and White’s syndicated show has been in the works for a while, Mathison’s role as host of “Beat the Bridge” marks his second major career move in less than six months, given that he also left Hallmark Media for Great American Family in late 2023.
“So excited for you all to see it and so grateful to be a part of the GSN family,” he wrote on Instagram of the new game show.
Cameron Mathison Will Host ‘Beat the Bridge,’ Based on a Popular BBC Series
Mathison, who will be replaced in Hallmark’s “Hannah Sweeney Mysteries” by Victor Webster starting with the April 5 premiere of “One Bad Apple,” will first appear on GSN when “Beat the Bridge” premieres in June, Deadline reported.
GSN put out a casting call for the show in August 2023 and Geeks Who Drink reported that the network planned to film 100 episodes of the show from October 24 through November 16.
On November 18, Mathison — who hosted of Hallmark’s now-defunct “Home and Family” talk show from 2013 to 2021 — hinted that he was working on something new in a November Instagram story. He shared a selfie of himself in a bright blue suit and tie with several crew members in the background on a TV lot.
Over the photo, Mathison wrote, “It’s a wrap!!! Can’t wait to tell everyone about this amazing new project … Also Home and Family reunion working with these guys again”
Mathison’s show, “Beat the Bridge,” is based on the BBC’s “Bridge of Lies,” according to Scottish newspaper The Herald. STV, a Scottish production company that launched “Bridge of Lies” in 2021, is working on the American version, the outlet reported. In fact, the game show has been so popular that there are versions of it airing in 16 places around the world, including Spain.
In GSN’s “Beat the Bridge,” Mathison will oversee teams of three players who try to cross an “enormous interactive bridge,” trying to step on the “right answers to challenging trivia questions,” per Deadline. Each time a player moves forward, their team gets money and there’s bonus cash available anytime someone crosses the bridge. However, Deadline said, “the team gets to keep the money only if it can ‘beat the bridge’ by returning one of its players back across before time expires.”
David Mortimer of STV Studios, who’s also credited as an executive producer of ‘Beat the Bridge,’ told The Herald that taping 100 episodes of the show is a big deal.
“We’re so excited that our much-loved UK quiz format has found a home across the pond,” he said, “and delighted that Game Show Network has such faith in the show to place an order of this size.”
Brooke Burns & Jaleel White are Pumped to Host New Shows, Too
Heavy/GettyBrooke Burns, Jaleel White
Though she’s established herself as a leading game show host over the last two decades, Burns also has plenty of experience acting in Hallmark mysteries, just like Mathison. She headlined the “Gourmet Detective” mystery series from 2015 to 2020, per IMDb, and starred in 2017’s “Christmas Connection.”
The fifth season of GSN’s “Master Minds,” hosted by Burns, premiered in August, according to the network, which said she got her start in the genre hosting NBC’s “Dog Eat Dog” in 2002 and, later, ABC’s “You Deserve It” alongside Chris Harrison. Burns also hosted GSN’s “The Chase” from 2013 to 2015, for which she earned an Emmy nomination, per Distractify, before returning to host “Master Minds.”
Starting in August, Burns will also host “Tic Tac Dough,” according to Deadline, an updated version of of NBCUniversal’s classic game show, with a $10,000 prize.
White, who’s best known for his role as Urkel on “Family Matters” when he was a kid, has had a wide range of acting roles since including the 2019 Hallmark movie “Staging Christmas.” But this fall, he’ll host the new game show “Flip Side,” which will be syndicated on CBS stations, Deadline reported, with episodes later airing on GSN.