Hallmark Channel
Last night, we reported that Hallmark Channel had abruptly “parted ways” with longtime Home & Family co-host Mark Steines. The cable channel’s official statement was a bit cryptic: “Today Hallmark Channel has parted ways with Mark Steines as the co-host of the network’s lifestyle series Home & Family. We are extremely grateful to Mark for his incredible work and wish him all the best success in his future endeavors.”
Given that Steines was immediately removed from the Home & Family site, more than a few people wondered if there was more to the story. Today, Hallmark made it clear that the channel had no issues with Steines. Management wants to take the series in a different direction and Steines was not part of that change.
Here’s today’s statement: “Shows evolve and change all the time. Mark has been an instrumental part of Home & Family for the past 6 years, and we are extremely grateful for his incredible work and leadership. We truly wish Mark all the best in his future endeavors.”
According to Deadline, Steines was blindsided by Hallmark’s plans and was told he was off the show only after he finished taping Thursday’s show (on Wednesday).
According to a representative of Steines, he was let go for “creative reasons”. The rep noted, “We had had nothing but positive reviews and feedback from Hallmark for the entirety of the time he has been on the show, including this year.” It is believed that Steines still had time left on his contract so it wasn’t about contract negotiations.
Steines’ co-host, Debbie Matenopoulos, fought back tears as she delivered the news to viewers at the end of today’s show. She was surrounded by seven contributors on the show’s couch.
Welcome back, everybody. So, I’m here to share some news. And the family has joined me because we truly are a family here. Now, although we had a great show, we have a hard announcement to make. We have a very hard announcement to deliver. Our dear friend, our very good friend, and my wonderful co-host for years, Mister Mark Steines, is no longer with Home & Family.
He has been an amazing friend to all of us here at Hallmark Channel, the cast, the crew and a wonderful friend to all of you at home as well. And we are grateful to Mark, and we want to thank him from the bottom of our hearts for six of the most incredible years that he has had here hosting this incredible show that, he helped build. He really did.
He’s been here from the beginning and a lot of this show has Mark’s handprint on it, so we support him in everything he does in the future, his future endeavors. We will miss him dearly and we will think about him fondly and often and we thank you all at home for your kindness and understanding and your support and for being part of our family every day.
Thank you so much, everyone. Thank you for joining us and we’ll see you back here on Monday.
This isn’t the first time that a Home & Family co-host has been suddenly dropped from the program’s “family”. Matenopoulos’ predecessor, Cristina Ferrare, was quietly removed from the program nearly two years ago. She had theoretically been on vacation for two weeks before it was announced that she was simply no longer with the program. This led many viewers to assume that Ferrare was sick (which was not the case) and led to a lot of hard feelings from viewers toward her replacement.
It’s unclear if Steines will be replaced. On Monday’s show, Matenopoulos will be joined by guest host James Denton, one of the stars of Hallmark’s Good Witch series.
What do you think? Are you sorry that Steines has been fired by Hallmark? Will you continue to watch the Home & Family TV show? If they wanted to make a change, could Hallmark have handled this in a better way?
I watched the show originally with Christina and Mark as hosts and really enjoyed it. I was not happy when Christina was removed. Debbie is too sweet but Mark held held the show together and was a family ,am. Now that he has been removed, I will not watch the show.
It was so hard to watch after they fired Christina but now that they fired Mark too I have zero interest in the show. They did not handle this the right way without saying. Its too bad they had such a good thing going and my friends and I loved watching this show but sadly no more. Even my husband asked what was going on. I now watch the Harry Connick Jr show and love it. Feel so bad for Mark and his family.
I think mark got back what he did to Christina and I say you get what you give. for the last few years that Christina was on the show whenever she would talk or try to talk he would try to talk over her or make a face or roll his eyes. anyone who doesn’t think he had Christina removed from the show is crazy. just because someone looks good on camera doesn’t mean they are a good person. Cameron will do an amazing job.
I just don’t understand the Hallmark channel……I was upset when they Dumped Christina Ferrare and now they’ve done the same thing with Mark Steines. They had a great combination in those two hosts. The current team just doesn’t have the same geniuness…..they don’t feel like family at all. All I can say to Hallmark is, you’d better hope your viewers have more loyalty than you do.
No they lost me when they ditched Christina for Debbie. I feel Debbie is so over the top, and always looking at her self in the monitor. They say they are family ! I think not. It was just a matter of time before Marc’s head would be on the chopping block.
I hate that Mark is not on the show!! He was my favorite, with his humor and sincere personality! I haven’t watched it much since he’s not been with Hallmark, maybe a handful of times, and I don’t like it. Don’t believe I’ll tune in now. Sad! Sad! Sad! BOO – Hallmark , and how the situation was handled!
After giving the program some time to see how it has panned out – I can definitely say the folks that decided they needed to get rid of Mark made a big mistake. The program hasn’t really changed in format; however Mark Steine’s presence and humor is sorely missed. If there were other reasons for his dismissal that they don’t want to share – I understand that, if it was purely to get new blood it was a mistake. The guest hosts just don’t make an impact like Mark did (and some I barely tolerate). Most likely I’ll watch simply… Read more »
Well this isn’t the first time I’ve been upset about Hallmark dropping a co-host. The first time it was a mix of how and who they choose to replace the co-host. This time flat out the way as well as before being no reason. I hope that this not only bites them in the a _ _ . I myself hope to discuss this enough with friends and family to discontinue watching the show if not the channel. This may seem a little unreal to you but their are still people out here in the world that care and believe… Read more »
I don’t catch Home & Family every day. So since Mark has not been on for some time I wondered why. At first I thought he was on vacation, but after a couple of weeks went by I wondered if he was I’ll. It bothers me that after so many years with Home & Family and how Hallmark boasts they are truly a “Family” station they just fire someone and in such a cold manor? Not only did Hallmark’s management do it abruptly, they did it secretly blindsiding Mark. Being a business built on Family wholesomeness, letting someone go in… Read more »
After the abrupt removal of Mark I no longer watch the show. I refuse to patronize a company that will fire someone for no reason.
I am so sad that Mark is no longer with the show. I love Debbie, but it was hard to get used to Christina was replaced. Not that I don’t like Cameron, but all I can see with him there is “All my Children”!!
I just cancelled my recordings for the show. I record and watch in evenings after everyone goes to bed. Since reading about Marks removal, I do not want to watch anymore. Debbie seems nice but she is annoyingly too sweet. Seems fake and can’t watch without Mark to counterbalance . He was more genuine.
It is wrong to just fire someone without reason.
Guess it saves space on my recorder.
Dice, I agree totally with you. I never watched it for Debbie even before she was Co-Host I felt like it was to much effort on her Part I watched it because Mark always made you feel you were part of the family. Don’t get me wrong I really like The new Co- Host Cameron but You don’t get rid of someone that was already doing a great job and was part of our family. It was like they put in the trash.
I’m sorry to read that Mark is no longer with the show. He was a great cohost. My opinion is that Cameron is not a good cohost. I hope he is not on permanently. If that is the case I will no longer be watching the show.
I watch the show on days I am off from work which isn’t often. So last week I was home and noticed Mark was not on the show. I just assumed he was on vacation. So today I tuned in to the show and no Mark. Thank goodness for technology! I searched the shows website and discovered Mark was no longer a part of the show. I will miss him because he brought charisma and energy to the show.
I will not be watching Home and Family any longer. You really should let people say goodbye, as in the case of the two Matts. The show is hobbled without Mark and it really is painful to watch everyone flounder.
People for ever have never liked change. I’m quite sure that Debbie nor Cameron had any say so toward Mark’s termination. Mark has done a wonderful job for Home and Family and with his unbelievable talent and experience he will move on to a bigger and brighter future. I have to say that I will continue to watch and give Cameron and Debbie along with there family crew my up most support. I wish you all the best and look forward to the change that was felt needed for a brighter future for the HOME and FAMILY.