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Hannah Swensen is getting a taste of Hollywood over at The Cookie Jar in Hallmark Mystery’s latest installment of the popular franchise, Reality Bites: A Hannah Swensen Mystery. Alison Sweeney called on her reality competition roots from hosting The Biggest Loser to not only star in and produce the movie, but to also write the script for the unexpected murder.

This time around, the tiny but murderous town of Eden Lake gets a visit from Hannah’s favorite celebrity chef, who decides to film her cooking show at her bakery — what a sweet treat! It’s a delightful opportunity for Hannah’s small business until the reality show’s producer turns up dead. Now, it’s time for Hannah and Norman (Gabriel Hogan), the town’s dentist, to track down the killer.

“The idea of bringing [Norman] in cahoots to solve this mystery and using [his skills as a dentist] was so fun for me as a writer,” Sweeney shared with Soaps.com ahead of the premiere. “And it was hilarious to see Gabe Hogan tackling that and trying to interrogate people. When you’re in the dentist’s chair and they start asking you questions… everyone has that experience. So, it was really fun to make that a moment in this movie.”

Sweeney also loved bringing in elements of her own experience on food-related shows like Beat Bobby Flay and Top Chef Masters into play. “I’ve been on these cooking shows, and I was part of a reality show myself; it absolutely played a part in my understanding of how it works,” she noted while pointing out the crew even had cameos for the very meta TV-show-within-a-movie moments.

“If you get the lighting equipment in the shot, who cares? It’s behind the scenes or whatever, and of course, it’s not as simple as that, but it was making us laugh,” Sweeney shared. In addition to her work with Hallmark, Sami Brady is also making a return to Salem. While her Days of Our Lives air dates haven’t been announced yet, it did make us curious about Sami and how she would fare on reality TV.

“She is really competitive. You know what? Sami could be on Survivor,” Sweeney said enthusiastically. “She could come in all sorts of unassuming, I feel that she would have a strategy for that game to come out on top. [Host Jeff Probst] would definitely ask her questions every time. She would always have something good to say.”

Sweeney believes her Days of Our Lives character’s pretend Survivor game would show off the true Sami. “Her behind-the-scenes interviews would be on fire ’cause she would just tell it like it really is,” she laughed. “And then all those people would be watching the show later when it airs, ‘Like, oh my God, I thought we were friends.’ She would never tell someone if she found a hidden immunity idol. All is fair to her in a game like that.” Sweeney then summed up, “By the way, that’s a really funny idea.” Yes, Sami could “Outwit. Outplay. Outlast” just about anyone.

Reality Bites: A Hannah Swensen Mystery premieres Thursday, Feb. 6 at 8/7 c on Hallmark Mystery.

Before you go, refresh your memory about all the Hannah Swensen mysteries from start to finish in our gallery below.