Meet the Real-Life Loves of Hallmark’s “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” Cast (Including the Pair Who Got Engaged After Working Together On Set!)

Hunter King and Tyler Hynes are helping the Kansas City Chiefs fandom get the Hollywood treatment

Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story is bringing together sports and romance just in time for the holiday season, but the real-life cast has found love off-screen, too.

This year, Hallmark partnered with the Kansas City Chiefs for the NFL-focused movie Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, which premiered on Nov. 30. The festive film stars Hunter King as Alana Higman, who comes from a long line of diehard Chiefs fans, and Tyler Hynes as Derrick, the director of fan engagement for the team.

The film follows King’s character as she tries to win the team’s “Fan of the Year” contest for her family. Along the way, she meets Hynes’ character, and naturally, sparks fly between the two.

Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story will also feature a cameo from Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce's mom, Donna Kelce. The matriarch plays the manager of a barbeque restaurant, also named Donna, who witnesses Alana and Derrick's connection blossom.

In addition to the romance on-screen during the film, love was in the air behind the scenes, too. King worked on the movie with her then-boyfriend, crew member Chris Copier, who became her fiancé when he proposed to the actress in October 2024.

Here’s everything to know about the real-life partners of the Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story cast.

Hunter King and Chris Copier

Hunter King plays Alana Higman, a lifelong superfan of the Chiefs.

Outside of her latest role, King has plenty to celebrate, including her engagement to Chris Copier in October 2024, calling it the “best day of my life.”

The actress first shared a glimpse into their relationship in January 2024, including a snap of Copier in her 2023 round-up post on social media.

Just Jared reported that the couple initially met in 2022 on the set of the movie Give Me Your Eyes, which starred King and featured Copier as the assistant director.

They were on set together again during Holiday Touchdown, with her fiancé serving as the second-second assistant director on the movie.

Tyler Hynes

Tyler Hynes may find love on-screen in Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story as Derrick, the director of fan engagement for the Chiefs, but he keeps a low profile when it comes to his personal life, including his relationships.

While details about his private life remain under wraps, Hynes shared details about his ideal date during a Facebook Live for Hallmark around the premiere of his movie A Picture of Her in March 2023, taking inspiration from his character by suggesting a motorcycle ride.

The Three Wise Men and a Baby star revealed that his perfect outing would be effortless.

“I think I like when things go the way they’re supposed to, and if you don’t quite know how that evening is going to go down, I think that’s all the more fun, and it feels like it becomes something organic to the situation and to the person that you’re across from," he explained.

Hynes continued, “Just listening to [them] ... and knowing who they are and perhaps finding something that might tickle us in this new circumstance we find ourselves in, and our individual personalities.”

Ed Begley Jr. and Rachelle Carson

Ed Begley Jr. stars as King’s grandfather in the Hallmark holiday movie. In real life, he has been married to actress Rachelle Carson since 2000.

The pair told Ability magazine in 2006 that after initially meeting through friends a few years earlier and not connecting, they crossed paths again in 1993 at an environmental event. Carson said it “was still a surprise that we hit it off,” with Begley Jr. calling it “an accident” before adding, “And we’re still together, 13 years later.”

As a couple, they’ve appeared in the reality television series Living with Ed, which ran for three seasons from 2007 to 2009 and followed the actor’s journey of living life with a small carbon footprint. They also starred in the web series On Begley Street, which followed the family as they built a sustainable home in Los Angeles.

Like her husband, Carson is an actress who has appeared in several shows, including Better Call Saul and Cobra Kai. Away from the cameras, she's passionate about the environment. They’ve been spotted on the red carpet over the years, including at the Environmental Media Association Awards in January 2024.

Begley Jr. and Carson are parents to a daughter, Hayden. The actor also had two children with his first wife, Ingrid Taylor: daughter Amanda and son Nicholas.

Mary Elizabeth McDonough and her husband, Don

Mary Elizabeth McDonough wed her husband, Don, on June 4, 2011.

The Waltons star announced the news on social media alongside a photo of them on their wedding day.

In a post on Facebook, she wrote, “Ok so after a long engagement, it was time. Jumped the broom Saturday! I am filled with gratitude, love and joy!”

McDonough has not shared much about her romance with Don, writing on Facebook in 2013 that he is a “very private” person.

She marked his birthday in March 2023 with a sweet post on social media, writing in the caption, “Happy birthday, my love. So lucky to celebrate another year with this guy. I Love you baby!!”

Christine Ebersole and Bill Moloney

Christine Ebersole has been married to her husband, musician-turned-artist Bill Moloney, since August 1988, per the Chicago Tribune.

Despite knowing Moloney previously, the couple had a whirlwind romance, only beginning their relationship in February 1988, just months before their wedding.

At the time, the newspaper reported that Moloney was a musician who arranged tunes for the sitcom The Cavanaughs, on which Ebersole was a lead.

According to the Palm Beach Daily News, Moloney eventually turned to a different kind of art form: paintings and collages.

In a December 2007 interview with New Jersey Monthly, Ebersole told the publication that her husband “helps me keep everything in perspective” while she starred in Grey Gardens on Broadway, for which she later won a Tony and he was by her side at the event.

Ebersole and Moloney are parents to three children, whom they welcomed via adoption: Elijah, Mae Mae and Aron.

Diedrich Bader and Dulcy Rogers

Diedrich Bader and his wife, actress Dulcy Rogers, have been married since the late '90s.

The American Housewife star told The Washington Times in September 2000 that he and Rogers originally met on the set of a movie six years prior, in which they played a husband and wife.

In 1998, he and Rogers starred opposite each other again, this time in a stage production of Perfect Wedding at Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut, per Playbill.

The couple are parents to two children: son Sebastian and daughter Ondine.

Megyn Price and Edward Cotner

Megyn Price married her husband, Edward Cotner, in 2001, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Not much is known about the Rules of Engagement star’s husband, but she told the outlet in September 2002 that he was a doctor, which made it difficult to go on vacation due to their conflicting work schedules.

Price and Cotner welcomed their first child together, daughter Grace, in July 2007, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The family of three made rare appearances together on the red carpet when Grace was younger, including at the 14th Anniversary of the P.S. Arts Express Yourself Gala in November 2012, as well as at the same event two years later in November 2014.