It may be Halloween, but Hallmark‘s Countdown to Christmas slate has already kicked off, and another festive addition is coming down the chimney today.

Hallmark+’s new holiday reality competition show Finding Mr. Christmas, hosted by Jonathan Bennett and starring lead judge Melissa Peterman, puts 10 Hallmark hunk hopefuls against each other as they compete for the ultimate prize: The title of Mr. Christmas, and the chance to star alongside Jessica Lowndes in Happy Howlidays, which will premiere on the network Dec. 21.

Contestants Blake Kelley and Ezra Moreland are well aware of Hallmark’s status as a home for family-friendly holiday film and TV, something that influenced their decision to take part in the new series.

“It’s something that you can turn the channel on and everybody from your grandmother down to the family dog, everybody can watch it,” Kelley, whose dog Deacon “loves Hallmark movies,” told DECIDER at a junket.

Moreland, whose Grandma Shirley is a Hallmark movie fan, recalled how the films kept them connected while he was deployed in the Navy.

“I could get on the phone and just talk to her, and we’d kind of connect that way, through Hallmark and different holiday movies if I had to be gone from family,” he explained. “It’s always been a part of my life growing up and to this moment.”

Bennett dons many (Santa) hats in the making of the new series: co-creator, executive producer and host. DECIDER had the prime — and may we say, fetch— opportunity of speaking to Bennett on Oct. 3, otherwise known as the day Lindsay Lohan‘s Cady Heron asked Aaron Samuels (Bennett) what day it was in Mean Girls.

20 years out from the release of the 2004 comedy, Bennett teased that he “feel[s] very old,” but noted how Mean Girls “started [his] career and made [him] and the cast part of pop culture,” paving the way for opportunities like Finding Mr. Christmas.

“Because it was able to make me part of the fabric of pop culture, I’m now sitting here with two of the most amazing men I’ve ever met in my life, producing, creating, and hosting a TV show that hopefully will become part of pop culture,” he shares. “So, I think Mean Girls has launched me into the pop culture narrative and I’ve been able to use that to keep the pop culture narrative going and to keep creating things in that space. Like bringing these two yahoos to Finding Mr. Christmas.”

Take a look at DECIDER’s full conversation with Bennett, Kelley, and Moreland below.

DECIDER: Jonathan, as co-creator, executive producer, and host of Finding Mr. Christmas, can you take me through the show’s backstory, and what inspired this idea?

BENNETT: Well, I think the Hallmark Cinematic Universe has become so popular in not only pop culture, but with the acting community. Every one of my friends asks me, “Hey Jonathan, how do I get into Hallmark movies? Hey, can you get me in the Hallmark movies?” Everyone wants to be in one, and because I’m such a reality show fan — I’ve been on Celebrity Big Brother, I’ve been on Dancing with the Stars, I’ve been contestants — I watch all reality. I was like, “What if we gamify the process of becoming a Hallmark leading man? What if we take a reality show and use that to find the next Hallmark Christmas movie star?” And that’s how Finding Mr. Christmas was born.

DECIDER: Blake and Ezra, what was the selection process like for you both as contestants?

KELLEY: For me, I have no experience, so they found me on Instagram. Going into this, like I said, no experience, so for me, when I heard it was Hallmark, I jumped on it immediately because I felt very comfortable knowing that not only am I — you know how it is, you got to be nit-picky of some networks of who can watch. Hallmark, I know my family and all my friends could watch it with my mind at ease. So I jumped on the opportunity when I got it and man, was it a ride.

MORELAND: And I’d say the selection process was just, kind of an eye-opening experience each step of the way because at first a lot of the details are kind of kept hidden, and just for fun. You can only know so much. Kind of like what Blake said, as soon as I knew it was a family sort of production, I was just more than excited to be a part of it. It was fun getting to see how each step was like a little bit closer and then when you finally figure out you’re going, it’s like, “Alright—”

BENNETT: What was it like when you got the call, “Hey you’re going on the show?” What’d you feel?

MORELAND: Oh it was just, I was like ecstatic. It hadn’t really hit me because I mean I’m kinda just about to go travel for like a photoshoot for like a modeling gig or something. I’m like, “Wait, this is, like, really big.” I’m stoked. Life is just going on and I’m really not exactly sure what I’m getting into, but it was just like a good feeling in my heart and I just know to trust that.

BENNETT: Yeah. And what was it like for you Blake when you got the call, “Hey, it’s a go?”

KELLEY: It was crazy. If I’m being honest, I really thought this was gonna be like an athletic competition show, and so when [Jonathan] spilled the bills on what it is, I’m like, “OK, here goes nothing.” But at the end of the day, I know we were picked for a reason, which, [I] got a lot of confidence out of that and it was just an amazing experience.

DECIDER: As contestants, did you guys all bond offscreen as well? I know there was a lot of great chemistry and camaraderie on screen.

KELLEY: Yeah, I think we did. I think it was really, really neat to see how competitive we were, in between the whistles, if you will. We were just going at each other. But off-camera, it’s so crazy how quickly we became a brotherhood.

MORELAND: Right, and what you see on camera, I don’t think is possible if it’s not kind of what’s happening behind the scenes as well. And just knowing, like Blake said, this is the first time he’s had anything like this in the past, and me having that in common, it’s like we kind of bond through just like these challenges and the pressure we’re kind of put under. And then that just kind of brought us over, like brought us closer and closer.

BENNETT: Because they’re going through an experience that no one’s ever had before. So when you put 10 people and they’re all going through something that no one’s ever done, it kind of levels the playing field and brings you together because all you have is each other in those moments. As producers and creators, we didn’t know how they were going to react. We knew what the challenges were gonna be, we didn’t know how they were going to react to them. And lucky for us, they reacted beautifully and were able to make not only great television, but also grow as humans and learn from each other and really grow as people.

DECIDER: What sets Hallmark apart as a holiday TV and movie destination, in your opinion?

BENNETT: Oh wow. I mean, I know your Grandma loves it and that’s where Ezra started watching Hallmark movies. What was your grandma’s name?

MORELAND: Grandma Shirley.

BENNETT: Grandma Shirley!

KELLEY: Grandma Shirley.

BENNETT: Grandma Shirley loves a Hallmark movie.

MORELAND:  She really does and I always would think of her back in my Navy days when I would go out on deployment or just be so detached from all my loved ones and family. I could get on the phone and just talk to her, and we’d kind of connect that way, through Hallmark and different holiday movies if I had to be gone from family. It’s always been a part of my life growing up and to this moment.

KELLEY: Yeah, I would agree with that. It’s just, in my opinion, it’s something that we’ve gotten away from over the years as a society. It’s something that you can turn the channel on and everybody from your grandmother down to the family dog, everybody can watch it.

BENNETT: And his dog loves Hallmark movies. Deacon?

KELLEY: Deacon.

BENNETT: Deacon loves Hallmark movies. I think what sets Hallmark apart — first of all, no one does Christmas better than Hallmark. Hands down. We are the network that everyone comes and turns to, and I think what’s so special about Hallmark Channel is that we have become a holiday tradition. We are no longer just a network, we are a part of people’s lives. We are the movies they watch during the holidays to either get them through what they need to get through, or whatever they’re dealing with, or the movies they watch to come together as a family. And so, just like putting up the Christmas tree is a tradition, just like opening presents on Christmas morning is a tradition, for so many million[s’ of Americans, watching Hallmark Channel, from the day Countdown to Christmas starts until New Year’s Day, it’s become part of their holiday tradition.

DECIDER: While we may be talking about Christmas, I know I’m speaking to you on another holiday: Mean Girls Day.

BENNETT: Oh, I’ve heard of it. What? Stop it.

DECIDER: I just have to ask, 20 years out, how do you feel?

BENNETT: I mean, I feel very old. I feel extremely old. But you know what Mean Girls did? Mean Girls started my career and made me and the cast part of pop culture. And because it was able to make me part of the fabric of pop culture, I’m now sitting here with two of the most amazing men I’ve ever met in my life, producing, creating, and hosting a TV show that hopefully will become part of pop culture. So, I think Mean Girls has launched me into the pop culture narrative and I’ve been able to use that to keep the pop culture narrative going and to keep creating things in that space. Like bringing these two yahoos to Finding Mr. Christmas.

Finding Mr. Christmas premieres on Hallmark+ Oct. 31.