The Real Reason Danica McKellar Left The Hallmark Channel

From 1988 to 1993, Forbes reported that Winnie Cooper from "The Wonder Years" was known to many as the quintessential girl next door. Portrayed by Danica McKellar, Cooper was protagonist Kevin Arnold's (Fred Savage's) on-again off-again girlfriend, who experienced the ups and downs of the '60s alongside Arnold and his best friend Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano). Following the conclusion of "The Wonder Years," McKellar took time away from acting to study math, per USA Today. In 1998, she graduated summa cum laude from UCLA. "I didn't think I 'looked the part' of someone who could excel in math, even though I loved it and did very well in high school. I thought college math must be really hard and that I wasn't a typical math student because I had always thought 'girls can't — or shouldn't — do math' and that it's not cool to love or do math," McKellar told USA Today.

This realization prompted her to publish a book called, "Math Doesn't Suck," as well as follow-up titles like "Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape" and "Goodnight Numbers." In addition to her work popularizing math, McKellar is also making time again for acting, and has appeared in a number of Hallmark movies, per IMDb.

Danica McKellar is one of Hallmark's most prolific actresses, having appeared in "Crown for Christmas", "Christmas at Grand Valley", "Christmas She Wrote", and many more. But the Wall Street Journal reported that the actor's Hallmark days may be behind her, now that there's a new rival on the scene in the form of GAC Family (previously Great American Country). Per WSJ, GAC Family is run by Bill Abbott, who is the former CEO of Hallmark's parent company, Crown Media Family Networks. Abbott was able to successfully woo McKellar to the network with a deal to both star in and executive produce several films. McKellar, who knew Abbott from previous working relationships, was happy to reunite when "he reached out to me to sign a multi-picture deal as an actress and executive producer," as she told WSJ.

McKellar's first film with GAC premiered on January 8, 2022. In honor of the occasion, McKellar took to Instagram to encourage viewers to tune into "The Winter Palace." "Get ready to be swept off your feet into a Royal Winter Wonderland in this charming romance filled with humor and magic," she wrote. Per TV Line, McKellar's exclusive contract with GAC Family only lasts until 2023. After that, will Hallmark be able to lure her back to their network? Only time will tell.