Days of our Lives Alumni Trevor Donovan Stars in Jingle Bell Princess

Tis the season for ‘feel good’ holiday movies! Former Days of our Lives star Trevor Donovan (ex-Jeremy) stars in made-for-TV film Jingle Bell Princess on the GAC Network.

Trevor Donovan Stars in Jingle Bell Princess

Jingle Bell Princess, part of the GAC Family Network’s Great American Christmas franchise, tells the tale of a widower, Sam, played by Donovan, who lives in Tucker, Maine with his mother, Annie (played by Marnie McPhail), and daughter. There, he meets Amelia, played by Merritt Patterson (Ravenswood), unaware that she is not what she may appear to be.

“Merritt plays a princess from an Eastern European country,” explains Donovan in setting up the film’s premise. “She gets stranded in my hometown in Maine. She’s a fish out of water and Sam’s mom invites her to stay in the family house until her airplane is ready.

“Amelia and Sam’s daughter connect,” Donovan notes. “Sam’s been renovating his house since his wife died about two years ago — only he’s been procrastinating. Princess Amelia helps remind Sam of what’s truly important.” Tune in to see if romance blossoms and whether or not Sam completes the home in time for Christmas.

How You Can Meet Trevor Donovan at RomaDrama Live!

Romantic movies are their own genre and now, there’s a way for fans to meet their favorite stars from those movies in person. The next RomaDrama Live! event is set for Tuesday, January 7 through Thursday, January 9 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Click here for tickets.) Donovan will be in attendance along with a host of other familiar faces from made-for-TV movies and seasonal programming including General Hospital stars Ryan Paevey (ex-Nathan) and Gregory Harrison (Gregory).

“We had the first RomaDrama Live! in Franklin, Tennessee and it went really well,” Donovan recalls, “especially, for a first-time event. You get to see up close how passionate fans are about these movies. I interact with fans on social media but it’s different seeing them in person.” Donovan says that people lost out on in-person events once social distancing and isolation kicked in due to the pandemic. “You take things for granted,” the actor notes. “I was fortunate enough to spend time with my family during the lockdown and later, I worked a lot. You don’t realize how much you communicate with people [in-person].”

Surprise Endings

Romantic movies made for TV often (always?) conclude with happy endings — just as episodes of Columbo ended with the killer being discovered. However, Donovan says that knowing how something is likely to be resolved doesn’t preclude viewers from being invested in the journey. “[You] fall in love with the characters along the way,” he says. “You start rooting for them. There’s always a redeeming quality to a character. You get moments of redemption.”

While actors often shoot holiday movies in summer months in the sweltering heat, Donovan, who recently chatted with Soap Hub for Wellness Wednesday, says that he completed production on Jingle Bell Princess during the fall in Ontario, Canada. “We were in a transition period with cold, crisp air, wearing down coats at night,” the actor says.

Jingle Bell Princess premieres tonight, Saturday, December 4 at 8 p.m. ET on GAC Family Network. Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Salem, check out all the latest that’s been posted on DAYS spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.