Watch “Finding Mr. Christmas ”winner“ ”in abs-olutely fabulous Hallmark movie preview (exclusive)

In just five days, Ezra Moreland — the winner of the Hallmark+ reality competition Finding Mr. Christmas — will make his TV-movie debut in the Hallmark Channel holiday rom-com Happy Howlidays. And as you'll see in this exclusive preview from the film (premiering Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT), both Ezra and his six-pack are ready for their close-up.

In Howlidays, Moreland — a 31-year-old model and former Navy rescue diver — stars as Max, a single guy who runs a dog shelter in Seattle. Over the holidays, he meets Mia (Jessica Lowndes), a webpage editor for the Seattle Tourism Board, who just rescued a stray dog. According to Hallmark's official description, "Mia agrees to let Max's ailing dog find solace with her newfound companion, in exchange for Max showing her the hidden gems of Seattle. Through their journey together, they both step out of their comfort zones, discovering new perspectives and forming a meaningful connection."

And because this film is set in Seattle, there's more rain than snow — which brings us to the preview clip. After getting caught in a downpour, Max and Mia and their dogs return to Mia's apartment to dry off. While she goes upstairs to change, Max decides to peel off his wet shirt, and... well, Mia is stunned into silence by the sight of his body. Watch the full clip above.

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Moreland, who teased his shirtless scene in an interview with Entertainment Weekly last week, says he had about two months to prepare for his first TV-movie role after winning Finding Mr. Christmas. "I got the script and had a little bit of time with that, which was so nice," he recalled. "I got to take some acting classes and break the script down scene for scene. That was the first time I had ever really tried to do something like that. But I did have ample time to prepare and study the script and get to know my character, Max."

Even though he won the title of Mr. Christmas, Moreland said nothing could prepare him for "the actual work" of shooting a Hallmark movie. "As I was going through the first couple of days of filming, I'm thinking to myself, 'This is just as challenging, if not more, than Rescue Swimmer school in the Navy,' which guys left and right to me were getting kicked out of because the stress and the training was so challenging," he said. "I'm like, 'This is the hardest thing I've ever done,' but it was amazing and I can't wait for everybody to see it."

Happy Howlidays premieres Saturday, Dec. 21, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly