‘The Holiday Dating Guide’ Filming Locations Will Have Viewers Completely Fooled

The beautiful and talented Maria Menounos and actor/writer Brent Bailey star in Lifetime’s holiday movie The Holiday Dating Guide, which premieres on Lifetime on December 17, 2022. The Christmas romcom sees Maria as a dating guru and author named Abigale Slater who has to put her tips to the test in the lead-up to the holidays.

But this festive flick was filmed in a surprising spot for a movie that looks like it’s set in a wintry wonderland. Let’s explore where the film was shot, which may surprise viewers given how completely opposite the locale was from what is portrayed on screen.

Dating expert Abigale's editor challenges her to prove that her advice really works before he’ll publish her new book. Her plan to make a man fall for her by Christmas Eve is foiled when Abigale meets Michael Ryan (Brent), and starts developing feelings of her own.

We see Abigale and Michael falling for one another in a country setting, complete with an ax throwing date and classic cars. So where is this magical holiday haven? According to The Cinemaholic, the interior and exterior shots were all captured in Tifton, Georgia. The outlet reports that The Holiday Dating Guide was filmed over the summer of 2022, a claim that is backed up by Maria’s Instagram posts.

The TV host shared several fun, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks from filming, including an action shot of her walking down a Tifton street in character.

Brent talked about how the production chose the sweet city and how that impacted the plot, telling the Tifton Grapevine about director Brian Herzlinger, “After seeing all the unique landmarks around town, Brian decided to change the setting to Tifton.” Specific spots the crew incorporated for the movie included The Peach Barn.

Although as Maria shared on her Instagram, they were still filming some scenes of their Lifetime holiday movie in October, anyone who has lived in or visited the South in the early fall knows that it’s still steamy that time of year. And consider that the bulk of the filming seemed to have taken place in hotter-than-heck July and August, with Maria noting the project wrapped on August 5, 2022 on her Instagram.

Brian talked to AfterBuzz TV about wanting to create a magical holiday feel for the movie despite the high temperatures outside. “Whether the snow is real or fake, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the message and delivering a story that embodies the spirit of Christmas and the holiday season,” he noted.

But as producer Mike Donovan added, “Shooting a Christmas movie in the middle of summer in Georgia when it’s 90+ degrees outside is a much bigger feat than you might imagine. Pulling it off is entirely thanks to our crew.” Maria made it clear on social media that indeed, the crew became almost like family over the course of shooting in Georgia, saying in one post, "It takes a village! Miss you all!"