Lifetime fans are in for a 2024 Christmas movie that has more heat than just chestnuts roasting on an open fire — or than ever before.
In 2023, A Cowboy Christmas Romance, written by Sarah Drew, became the first-ever Christmas TV movie to have a sex scene. This year, Drew wrote and executive produced another installment in her It’s a Wonderful Lifetime oeuvre for the network. It not only has another sex scene — but it’s much less subtle this time.
A Carpenter Christmas Romance (above) stars Mitchell Slaggert and Sasha Pieterse. It toys with, “the vibe of adding spicy to the sweet to the Christmas season,” Drew told Variety on Thursday (October 24). “There’s more steam this year than last year, so get ready. Mitchell Slaggert, he’s shirtless. He’s also just absolutely perfect in this role,” the screenwriter continued. “He has so much heart and so much charisma on screen. And Sasha Pieterse is amazing.”
Drew’s previous Christmas movie featured a feisty makeout scene, which then flashed to the morning, but heavily implied intercourse with a brief, tasteful bedroom cutaway (see below). She was asked by the outlet if there would be an “actual sex scene.”
“Yes… and more,” Pieterse confirmed.
“It’s really spicy. I was shocked. It’s one of the reasons I took it. I was like, this is different, this is fun. This is something that I think a lot of people will enjoy, and it might surprise them a little bit.
“Christmas movies are so comforting and so fun, and I think we all watch them for a reason. But when there’s something different in there, it’s always exciting. We bring the spice, that’s for sure.”
The movie centers on a novelist named Andrea (Pieterse), who heads to her family’s farmhouse to finish her latest book. While there, she unexpectedly falls for an “ex-crush, Seth,” (Slaggert) “an artisanal woodworker who’s helping rebuild the town after it was nearly destroyed by a fire.”
She added that her goal is to: “Make movies that are also for everyone that involve Christmas.” That said, Drew didn’t detail exactly how far the scene will go. And while Lifetime movies are generally G-Rated the rating here hasn’t been shared.
Drew added that she knows viewers are eager for some Holiday spice: “I am that audience,” she added. “It’s been so exciting to see Lifetime really support a little new genre for the Christmas season.”
“This one has a sort of spicy [element]. They used to have a thing, but he hurt her in the past and now they’re coming back together again. It’s them dealing with various different insecurities that they have that feel more adult,” she closed.
“Look, I love hot cocoa, I love gingerbread, I love all the cozy feelings, but I want something to sink my teeth into also.”
A Carpenter Christmas Romance, Lifetime, December 21, 8 P.M. ET
