fter several years away, Jen Lilley has returned to Hallmark. She stars in the new movie “A Royal Setting,” which premieres on March 28 and co-stars Dan Jeannotte. Ahead of the movie’s premiere, Lilley reflected on her decision to leave Hallmark in early 2022. She left to join the network’s former CEO, Bill Abbott, at Great American Family.

Jen Lilley Was ‘Promised the Moon’ to Change Networks

Lilley talked about the decision during the March 23 episode of the “Hallmark Mysteries & More” podcast. She said it was “such a hard decision” to leave Hallmark and join Abbott as he ramped up Great American Family.

She noted that Abbott had been “my biggest cheerleader at Hallmark.” In addition, Lilley explained, the discussion about the move began in 2020. As fans will remember, that was in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time, Lilley noted, “everybody” at Hallmark was “navigating over to Great American.”

The biggest Hallmark departure came from Candace Cameron Bure, whose move was announced in April 2022. As Variety noted, Bure signed a massive deal with Great American Family. The new deal gave her a much bigger role than she had with Hallmark.

Soon after it was announced that Bure was leaving, quite a few others followed. Danica McKellar made the move, as did Trevor Donovan. Eventually, other Hallmark stars such as Cameron Mathison, Carlos PenaVega, and Alexa PenaVega made the transition, as well.

In making her decision to head to Abbott’s network, Lilley said during the podcast, “I didn’t know if I had any allies left [at Hallmark], and I was promised the moon” to go to Great American Family.

She was asked if she regretted that decision, and Lilley hesitated briefly. “It was just one of those decisions that I made at the time,” Lilley says before trailing off. She added, “I don’t know. I think everything happens for a reason, so I can’t say that I regret it.”

“It’s like I regret it and don’t regret it at the same time,” Lilley admitted.

The Star of ‘A Royal Setting’ Hopes to Do Additional Hallmark Movies in the Future

It seems there was no hesitation about returning to Hallmark once she had the opportunity. She noted, “I really can’t stress how grateful I am” to be back with Hallmark.

Returning was “such a wonderful experience,” because “It did feel like putting on your favorite pair of shoes. It was so much more comfortable and easy than I anticipated it being, and there was no drama at all,” Lilley shared.

She noted that she had stayed in touch with many of her colleagues who remained at Hallmark after she left, and everybody was always on good terms.

Lilley loves “A Royal Setting” and wasn’t shy about saying, “I hope it’s not my last” with Hallmark.

She also pointed out that she’s never been one to “throw shade,” and “I’m not gonna say one bad thing about either situation.” However, Lilley emphasized, “I was just glad to be back” at Hallmark.”