NEW YORK – Oliver Hudson loves the holidays. But the actor did not think he'd be overcome with emotion while filming his latest gig as host of "Gingerbread Land: The Biggest Little Holiday Competition" (premieres Nov. 17 at 9 ET/PT on Magnolia Network and Food Network; streams the next day on HBO Max/Discovery+).
"There were moments where I'm like, 'Oh, my God,' " Hudson, 49, recalls to USA TODAY. "I don't want to go full sob on a (Chip and Joanna) Gaines Christmas gingerbread bake-off, where the host is completely losing it."
But Hudson was moved by the contestants, who work in teams to create intricate gingerbread structures from scratch and compete for a grand prize of $100,000.
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"Hearing their backstories and learning about the gingerbread community, which sounds completely nuts, but there is a national champion who was one of our contestants," Hudson says. "There's competitions all over the country. I mean, this is a real thing."
