“Holidazed”’s Ian Harding Reveals He Left Hollywood to Move Back to His Hometown: ‘I'm So Grateful’ (Exclusive)

The 'Pretty Little Liars' alum and his wife Sophie Hart said farewell to Los Angeles in late 2021 and he tells PEOPLE, "The feeling has been amazing"

Ian Harding's life is mimicking his art! Just like so many Hallmark movie characters, the Holidazed star moved back to his hometown after finding career success.

“I always knew that I wanted to be back on the East Coast and closer to family,” Harding, 38, tells PEOPLE exclusively. After the COVID-19 pandemic, a few things changed in Hollywood that made the move seem feasible: sending self-recorded audition tapes became the norm and more projects started filming in locations besides Los Angeles.

“Originally, I had thought of doing New York," the Pretty Little Liars alum shared. "That's the other entertainment industry hub, and I had friends and fellow actors that I knew [there] .

But ultimately his hometown of Washington, D.C. won out. "We had a living situation ready to go in D.C., and the D.C. area is that much more affordable," he explains.

Related: Hallmark Announces 47 New Holiday Movies in Its 2024 Lineup Starring Lacey Chabert, Angela Kinsey and More

In Holidazed — Hallmark's first-ever holiday series, which follows six families on the same cul-de-sac as they gather for the holiday season — Harding plays Josh Hill, a man returning to his hometown to see his family before they make a big move.

“But he does have another reason for coming back,” Harding teases. “Apart from having an interesting run-in with the law that he wasn't planning on, something unexpected happens, and he's forced to reckon with what he actually thinks is important in life, what his goals actually are and whether he's doing things that he thinks he should do rather than what his heart is telling it.”

Holidazed features an ensemble cast that includes Lindy Booth, Erin Cahill, Loretta Devine, Dennis Haysbert, Rachelle Lefevre, Virginia Madsen, John C. McGinley and Holland Roden. In typical Hallmark fashion, all of the storylines converge when “a large weather event happens and suddenly everybody's under one roof,” Harding says. “And shenanigans ensue.”

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Harding decided to make his real-life move in late 2021 with his wife Sophie Hart. The following September, the couple welcomed their first baby.

“It's been amazing that my mom can just come over and my dad and my stepmom can come by,” Harding says. “And because I'm not in government or politics, I get to enjoy D.C. as opposed to seeing it for the giant stress machine that it is.”“It's very underrated,” Harding says of the city. “But I really love it and I'm so grateful that I moved back. The feeling has been amazing.”

Being back near family means Harding will be responsible for hosting the holidays. But because he's been away working on a new project in Toronto, he says, “it's going to be a mad dash to the 25th because I get back so late,” he says. “It's just going to be: the living room is bare and then all of a sudden over the course of two hours, it's going to be a light show and my electric bill is going to be a $1,000.”

Related: Amanda Seyfried Shares Why She Left Hollywood for a 'More Balanced Life': 'The Best Decision'

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Harding’s family’s favorite holiday traditions include baking sugar cookies to share with the neighbors and making Glögg, a Swedish spiced wine punch. Now that he's a dad, he shares, “Even though we have some of our older traditions, we are trying to create new ones because now we are a family in this way."

New episodes of Holidazed premiere Thursdays on Hallmark+.