TV Week chats with the four leading ladies from this romantic anthology about their fresh, authentic take on small-screen romance
Back in 2023, romance lovers were introduced to The Love Club, a quartet of W Network TV movies about four women who meet at a New Year’s Eve party and forge a lifelong bond, vowing that no matter where life takes them over the years, they’ll always be there to help each other navigate that bumpy road to happily ever after.
The films, debuting over consecutive weeks, employed a unique structure, whereby every member of the Club (and their particular romantic calamity) took the lead in one each — with the others serving as supporting players until it was their turn in the spotlight.
It was a hit — so much so that we were recently treated to four more flicks, focused on a whole new Love Club. But this time, beyond just relationship woes, the conundrums of motherhood were thrown in the mix.
The Love Club Moms opens at a school event, where four heartsick, stressed-out women cross paths and unexpectedly change each other’s lives.
We have Tory (Ashley Newbrough), an overworked publishing CEO raising an adopted child on her own, who has given up on dating — till the Club hooks her up with a handsome male nanny, who may bring more to the table than just babysitting.
Then there’s Jo (Rebecca Dalton), the straitlaced principal who is thrown for a loop when her school’s resident problem child turns out to be the son of an old flame from her own rebellious youth.
Harper (Genelle Williams) is a happily married mother-of-two who is blindsided when her husband asks for a separation; with the help of the Love Club, she dusts herself off and gets into local politics, sparring with a campaign-trail opponent who may also be her perfect match.
And finally, Nila (Nazneen Contractor) is a widow who spends her days doting on/smothering her tween daughter. But when her daughter and the Love Club send her out on a series of disastrous dates, Nila, in an effort to get them off her back, recruits the local coffee shop owner to pretend he’s her boyfriend — and, well, you can likely guess where things go from there.
Though romance is front-and-centre, The Love Club Moms is primarily, like its predecessor, a celebration of female friendship — and how those friends are essential for surviving life’s various curveballs, indignities and outright tragedies.
TV Week got the chance to sit down with all four leading ladies and discuss this budding franchise’s novel approach to TV romance.
You’ve all done TV movies before. Did The Love Club’s interweaving, four-movie structure make this a different sort of experience?
Ashley: Absolutely, I think it makes the experience all the more rich and exciting. It’s not often that we get to work with other leading ladies. We got to bond and laugh, and we had a great time shooting these films. It was also nice because, whoever’s movie it was, we would all band together and support that one. Because it’s hard. It’s a lot of work, and it’s a lot to cover in a very short amount of time — I think it was about 15 days [per movie], if that. It was nice to have that support system — especially from women that understand it and know exactly what you’re going through. We all got to have each other’s backs and be each other’s cheerleaders. It made the whole experience feel like camp.
Nazneen: It was. It was like a very fun summer camp, and it’s also really great to get to play the same character in four different movies. That was also a very unique experience that we don’t normally get to do with these MoW [movie of the week] formats. It was great to be a leading lady, but then support — and get to see that person over the course of four movies, and really get to explore our characters with a little bit more vigour and fun than we normally get to in just a 90-minute movie.
Rebecca: It was interesting too, with the arcs of our characters. If the shooting schedule [changed], we’d do two movies in one day, and you’d have to figure out where your character’s at in each of the scenes, and kind of play into that.
Unlike most TV movies that deal with “love,” these ones are as much, if not more, about friendship . . .
Nazneen: Absolutely. I hope what viewers take away from it is that the relationship between these four women is the lasting connection that is going to take them through motherhood and their loves lives. Because it takes a village. And making friendships as adults it not an easy thing to do, especially when you’re making other female friends. I think these movies encapsulated that really well, and tied it all together in a fun, energetic and hopefully endearing way.
Rebecca: And if you want to know what a woman is thinking and feeling, you’ve got to talk to her girlfriends [laughs]. So, you get to see that side.
Can you talk us through each of your characters’ journeys — where they’re at in their lives, and what exactly they’re struggling with?
Rebecca: Jo starts off as a school principal and she’s just kind of on a safe track in life, because in her previous life she was a bit more rebellious and made some really big mistakes. She comes from a place of fear and is just doing “the right thing” all the time. But the father of one of her students comes into her life, and he’s a blast from the past. She’s forced to kind of reconcile between her old self and her new self. She’s got to remember who she really is.
Nazneen: Nila’s movie, she’s a widow. And I think that Nila’s biggest flaw is that she pours a lot of love and attention into everyone in her life — her friendships, her daughter — and she doesn’t give that to herself. She uses her grief over her husband as a crutch to not invest in herself and not take those next steps to moving on personally, moving on as a mom, moving on in her own career. And the Love Club sort of encourage her to take that next step forward in her life by trying to date again — and it goes very badly. But then it all works out, thanks to them.
Ashley: OK, so for Tory, she runs a publishing company. She’s driven, decisive, terrified of vulnerability. I think her journey involves realizing that in matters of the heart, you can’t use logic in these things. She hides behind her list of requirements in a partner, only to find out that her heart has something totally different in mind. She has to learn to listen to her heart, and that it’s OK to follow your heart. The Love Club really helps chip away at that tough exterior, and helps her feel safe to feel that way. I think that’s what she learns: love isn’t something that you can put into neat little boxes and expect to predict.
Genelle: For Harper, she is a very career-driven woman who also happens to be a mother. She is somewhat of a perfectionist, and because of that, and feeling like she has put everything into everything that she does, her husband wants a separation. And she really feels like she’s failed. She’s tried very hard — and you see that in snippets in the two movies before Harper’s movie — just refusing to give up until she has to. The ladies band together, and they help show her her worth again. I think she tends to pour herself into her work, and she’s very passionate about the community and the world in general — she’s into politics, and she’ll do whatever she has to to try and fix things — and the women do a really good job of having her step back and see herself again, and opening herself up to the prospect of love and other individuals, knowing that she is worthy of love and there are people that will see her for who she is.
There can be a sort of overly romanticized and fairy tale-esque quality to many TV romances. Is it fair to say that The Love Club, as a franchise, is a bit more grounded, and tackles issues that women face in all facets of their lives with more authenticity, while still retaining that touch of whimsy?
Genelle: Very fair. I think, if anything, that’s what drew me to it. Because, you’re right, there is usually this grandiose, sort of unrealistic aspect to how people fall in love [on TV]. And of course, there are still elements of that — that’s what people want to see. But it really is about the women and their friendship, and who they are as women. I think that’s why it feels [authentic], because they really do focus on their actual lives and not just the love. The love is almost secondary — and organic and natural. I think it’s a great way to approach it, as opposed to just being love-blind and googly-eyed all the time. It’s nice to be grounded a little bit.
Ashley: Yeah, The Love Club focuses on all kinds of love — romantic love, platonic love, the love between women — it’s all-encompassing.
Nazneen: It’s #SquadGoals, essentially [laughs].
Rebecca: And it doesn’t hurt that we all actually loved each other, in real life.
What sort of portrait are these movies painting of the motherhood experience?
Nazneen: I mean, I think that these films explore the fact that motherhood comes in all different shapes and forms. We have the adoptive mom, we have the stepmom, we have the biological mom, we have the single mom, we have all of these things.
As a parent, you know that it takes a village to raise child — it really, really does. And if you don’t have family, you rely on those close friends to help you through the trials and the tribulations of not just raising, but having to talk to someone about your rebellious teen or your kids dealing with the fact that you’re separating, or just finding childcare in Tori’s case, or becoming a stepmom in Jo’s case. I feel like those are really real issues.
It was so wonderful to see them portrayed in all of the storylines in a realistic way, and also hopefully a charming way as well. Because it’s hard, it’s a slog, but it’s also very rewarding and fun.
What would your pitch be for prospective Love Club Moms viewers?
Genelle: If you’re looking for fun, love, friendships, breakdowns, wild nights, boring nights — all of the above — I think you will literally get everything that you are looking for in each and every single one of them. And it’s not just for moms. It’s not just for women. Children will get a kick out of it. The husbands will get a kick out of it.
Ashley: Yeah, because who wouldn’t benefit from having a Love Club in their corner, you know? I hope that’s what everyone feels when they watch it. I hope they feel the support and love from the Love Club in your living room, or wherever you happen to be watching it.
Nazneen: Yes, and be inspired to connect with your friends. I hope that’s what people take away from it — friendship is so important, and it’s fleeting, and it’s not always made time for. But take a moment, call your girlfriends, text them . . .
Genelle: And don’t be afraid to talk to the mom in the school that looks like she’s having the worst day. She might be like Harper and just got told her husband wants to separate, and she may actually need you [laughs].
All four films in The Love Club Moms are available to stream on STACK TV.