Hallmark Stars Who Suffered Heatbreaking Losses

The Hallmark Channel has come to define a very specific type of entertainment, ranging from wholesome Christmas rom-coms (which almost always involve a big-city career woman returning to her small hometown for the holidays, where she falls in love while learning the true meaning of the season), to dependably alluring mysteries, where so many sparks fly between flirtatious sleuths that it's easy to forget these two lovebirds are investigating a gruesome murder. And while the untold truth behind Hallmark's Christmas movies reveals the artifice behind them, there's no denying that Hallmark has captured a viewing audience that has come to embrace this escapist TV comfort food with gusto.

One key reason why the Hallmark Channel became must-watch television is the network's skill at assembling a roster of familiar faces. This ensemble of actors has a history with viewers and continuously draws fans to the multiple Hallmark movies in which they appear. These movies, without exception, boast happy endings where all loose ends are tied up and all crises are overcome. Sadly, that hasn't always been the case for the actors who've appeared in these wish-fulfillment films. Some of them have been hit with harsh circumstances that aren't just a far cry from the fantasy world they exist in onscreen; they're downright tragic. Keep reading for an exploration of Hallmark stars who endured heartbreaking losses behind the scenes.

Brennan Elliott is familiar to viewers from his numerous appearances in Hallmark Channel films, but off-camera, he's gone through some dark times. In June 2018, Elliott's wife, Camilla Row, was diagnosed with a highly aggressive form of stomach cancer. The disease was so far advanced that she underwent surgery to remove her entire stomach and 47 lymph nodes. After subsequent rounds of chemotherapy, she was told the cancer had gone into remission.

Then, in 2021, Row underwent a series of MRIs that revealed a form of breast cancer, leading her to undergo a double mastectomy. Sadly, a mass was detected in her pelvis, which led to a devastating diagnosis of stage four cancer. "I know in my heart of hearts, I will beat this and I want others to know that stage 4 doesn't have to be so terrifying (even though I fully acknowledge the fear)," she wrote in an essay appearing on the website of the organization Hope for Stomach Cancer.

In March 2025, Elliott took to Instagram to share the heartbreaking news that his wife had died. "It is with a soul-crushing, devastated heart that my beloved wife #cami passed away ..." he wrote. "Our babies and I lost our rock, a person who not only was the love of my life, my soulmate, my best friend and lover, but the toughest, strongest, [most] fearless person I have ever met in my life."

Vancouver-based actor Noel Johansen has appeared in numerous Hallmark movies, in addition to beloved series "Chesapeake Shores" and historical drama "When Calls the Heart." In April 2025, Johansen's life was turned upside down while he, his wife, Jen Darbellay, and their children attended Vancouver's Lapu-Lapu festival, celebrating Filipino culture. While the family enjoyed the festivities, a man with a reported history of mental health issues drove an SUV into the crowd, killing 11 people and injuring many others. Among the casualties was Darbellay, who worked as a costumer in the film and TV industry. She was 50.

Johansen and his daughter, aged seven, were injured, and he was seen using crutches when he spoke at a vigil honoring the victims. "What you see here is an injury that means nothing to me because what's inside my heart is broken. Because my wife passed away behind me at the incident," Johansen said, via a video posted by Canada's Global News. Paying tribute to his late wife, he continued by telling the crowd, "She never thought of herself, she thought of herself as small in terms of the reach. And I can tell you she was larger than life for any of you who know her." A friend set up a GoFundMe to raise money for Johansen and his family during this fraught time. That fundraising effort proved to be successful, exceeding its goal of $200,000.

Few actors have had a longer and more successful association with the Hallmark Channel than Lacey Chabert. Not only has she appeared in more than 30 Hallmark movies, but she's also the host of the feel-good reality show "Celebrations with Lacey Chabert" for the Hallmark+ streaming service. All those movies ended happily, yet she hasn't been able to avoid tragedy in her offscreen life. 

That was the case when her older sister, Wendy, unexpectedly died in November 2021. Chabert shared the sad news with fans via Instagram, paying tribute by posting a throwback photo of her sister taken in 1994. "Our hearts are shattered into a million pieces that I don't know how we will ever put back together again now that you're gone," Chabert wrote in the accompanying caption. "The shocking loss has left us so broken-hearted," she continued, asking fans to keep Wendy's family — including the two sons she'd left behind — in their prayers.

In a subsequent Instagram post, more than two months later, Chabert was feeling that loss in a deeply profound way. "I can't believe it's been over two months since I've been able to hear my sister's voice," she wrote. "I still reach for my phone 10 times a day to text or call her before I remember that I can't." Chabert later revealed that her sister had died from a fatal heart attack that came with no warning.

Tamera Mowry-Housley rose to fame co-starring in the '90s TV sitcom "Sister, Sister,"  with real-life twin sister Tia Mowry. She went on to become co-host of the talk show "The Real," as well as appearing in such Hallmark movies as "The Santa Stakeout" and the "Haunted Harmony Mysteries" series. Mowry-Housley married her college sweetheart, Adam Housley in 2011, but in 2018, the couple endured a tragic death in the family. That year, their niece, Alaina Housley, was among the victims of a mass shooting outside a bar in Thousand Oaks, California. She was just 18 and a freshman at nearby Pepperdine University. "My heart breaks. I'm still in disbelief," Mowry-Housley posted on Instagram, with an accompanying photo of the late teenager. 

She took time off from "The Real" and opened up about her heartbreak when she eventually returned to the show. "I'm sorry," she told her co-hosts, breaking into tears. "My family's been through a lot, but the interesting thing about grief is you've got to find the balance of moving forward and grieving at the same time," (via Entertainment Tonight).

"The first six months were rough, and I was in denial," she said a year later, fighting back tears in a 2019 interview with "Extra." As years passed, Mowry-Housley continued to be hit hard by the loss. "We think of you daily," she wrote in a 2023 Instagram post. "We miss you immensely. We love you. Forever."

Following her seven-season stint on "Melrose Place," Josie Bissett became a regular on the Hallmark Channel, thanks to guest-starring on Hallmark hit "When Calls the Heart," and headlining "The Wedding March" and its sequels, in which she and fellow "Melrose Place" alum Jack Wagner continued their long history of working together. Yet in 2015, tragedy struck when Bissett's barbecue exploded, setting her house on fire. 

The flames spread so quickly that she had no time to rescue any of her possessions from the blaze. Thankfully, she and her family made it out safely, yet all they could do was watch helplessly as the house burned down. "There was nothing we could do," she recalled during an appearance on "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" Despite all the months that had passed, visiting the charred remains of her home was devastating. "Every time I walk in, I think it's going to be easier, and it's just not," she said. 

Three years after the fire, Bissett revealed that the fire ultimately changed her life — in a positive way. As she told First for Women, "The silver lining is that I met Tom," she said, referring to husband Thomas Doig, who was her neighbor in the condo complex that served as her temporary home while the damage to her house was being repaired.

Alicia Witt has been a Hallmark Channel staple for years, having appeared in numerous Christmas movies for the network. The 2023 holiday season, however, was far from happy due to the heartbreaking death of Witt's parents that December.

Witt's parents, Robert and Diane Witt, lived in Worcester, Massachusetts. When they hadn't returned her calls, she reached out to a relative who lived nearby to check in on the couple. Her worst fears were realized. "Sadly, the outcome was unimaginable," she wrote in a statement obtained by the Telegram & Gazette. "I ask for some privacy at this time to grieve and to wrap my head around this turn of events, and this surreal loss."  

Initial reports indicated that foul play was not a factor, but that the cause of their deaths remained a mystery. Two months later, the death certificates revealed they died of "probable cardiac dysrhythmia" brought about by extreme cold. The couple's furnace was reportedly not working, and they tried to keep warm with a small space heater. As Witt wrote via Facebook, her parents were proud people, stubbornly rebuffing her constant attempts to help them with home maintenance and insisting all was well, and had prevented her from entering their home for a decade. According to Witt, "Every time I offered to have something repaired for them, they refused to allow workers into their house."

Real-life couple Alexa and Carlos PenaVega have appeared separately in Hallmark Channel projects, but prefer to star opposite each other, something they've done in the "Picture Perfect Mysteries" movies, in addition to various other Hallmark projects. In late 2023, the couple — who were already parents of three children — were excited to announce that they were expecting a fourth. 

Instead of a joyous addition to their family, the couple was left heartbroken when their daughter — whom they named Indy — arrived stillborn. "Grief has come to us in waves, Alexa revealed the sad news in an April 2024 Instagram post. "Moments of feeling absolutely gutted ... then moments of feeling blessed by just getting a moment with her." She later shared more in an Instagram video, telling viewers that, "This season, obviously, is the most traumatic thing that we've ever had to go through as a family ... And I hope to never ever have to experience anything like this again."

She also opened up about how difficult it was to return from the hospital and explain what had taken place to their three young children. "The hardest part, honestly, was coming home from the hospital, and [son] Ocean was at the front door waiting for me, not having any idea of what happened," she recalled in an interview with People.

When he wasn't acting in Hallmark Channel holiday movies such as "Operation Christmas" and "Season for Love," Marc Blucas was focused on his passion project: renovating a Pennsylvania farmhouse originally constructed in 1711. "It's pretty amazing," Blucas said in a 2016 interview with Hallmark's "Home & Family" talk show, "and it's a way to kind of stay creatively stimulated when I'm not out filming and working." His motivation for buying the place, he explained, came from a desire "to be closer to family, so we moved to the East Coast to be by them." Blucas took the renovation so seriously that he attained his contractor's license. "I feel fortunate I've found another 'occupation' that has the sense of creativity and community I love," he wrote in a 2021 Instagram post accompanying photos of his historic home.

In December 2024, Blucas' beloved home became the site of tragedy when authorities responded to a 911 call, finding the actor's father, Walter Blucas, unconscious on the first floor of a detached carriage house used as an in-law suite. His mother-in-law, model Dayle Haddon, was found dead on the second floor of that same building. "Preliminary investigation is showing that a heating unit malfunctioned, exposing a large amount of carbon monoxide within the carriage house," Detective Sgt. Jonathan Koretzky told CBS Philadelphia. Blucas' father was initially said to be in critical condition, but eventually made a full recovery.

Having starred in well over a dozen movies, Nikki DeLoach has become a Hallmark Channel fan favorite. In the midst of making all those light-hearted films, however, there were also tragedies that touched DeLoach's life. This was evident when her father's health began deteriorating. "Dad was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of dementia called Pick's disease (commonly referred to as frontotemporal dementia). It affects the brain's frontal or temporal lobes," DeLoach explained in an interview with Guideposts. The disease took a heavy toll on her father, David DeLoach, who was just 66 years old when he died in 2021. "My heart is shattered," she wrote in an Instagram tribute.

The following year, she discussed how much of an emotional toll his passing took on her, even though it was not unexpected. "We knew it was going to happen, but you're just never prepared for the loss of someone you love so much," she told The Christophers' blog, recalling the promise she'd made to her late father: that, on the first anniversary of his death, she'd truly start living, and open herself to the joy that she'd been unable to experience in her grief.

She managed to come to that place, vowing to embody her father's kindness in her own life, but admitted it wasn't always easy. "Grief is a minefield and you never know where the bombs are buried," DeLoach observed.