Hallmark’s Kitten Bowl VI Is All About Finding ‘Forever Homes,’ Says Host Beth Stern
Preview
Flag on the play! Hallmark’s Kitten Bowl is just too adorable.
The furry cat-letes are having a field day for the sixth year in a row in the special event, part of Crown Media’s Adoption Ever After initiative, which helps increase adoption numbers and foster programs. After five years, the Bowl and coordinating shelters throwing Kitten Bowl Party Adoptions across America has helped more than 20,000 pets find families. Talk about a touchdown!
“Knowing that every animal I see here and am in contact with finds a wonderful forever home when it’s all over is my favorite thing,” says host and animal advocate Beth Stern. Some of Stern’s own fosters will join the catstravaganza alongside felines rescued from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and California’s 2018 wildfires.
Purr-ticipating kitties are rounded up by Stern’s team in conjunction with rescue organization North Shore Animal League America. This year, they had to work twice as hard with the addition of the first-ever Cat Bowl (airing February 2, 10/9c), showcasing adult and senior meowers.
While each vies to be No. 1 in someone’s heart, don’t expect any No. 2 on the field. “We feed our kittens well backstage, but we have litter boxes everywhere!” Stern says with a laugh.
Kitten Bowl VI was filmed on a hot August day in Manhattan, which Stern assures us was, “the perfect time.” “It’s kitten season,” she explains. “The female cat’s heat cycle is escalated in warm weather, so there are more kittens [at this time of the year] than ever.” That means, you probably shouldn’t fall too hard for that adorable furr-ceiver you see on television as they’ll be much larger once the event airs (though no less cuddly!). But don’t fret, either. Stern vows, “By the time this airs, if someone says, ‘I want a black kitten, that kitten is so cute,’ I promise, you will go to your local shelter and there will be a kitten there waiting for you.”
Kitten Bowl VI, Sunday, February 3, 2/1c, Hallmark Channel
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