98 Degrees star Jeff Timmons acting in local movie, teases new music

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By Matt Sheehan

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — 98 Degrees fans have been excited to learn founding member, Jeff Timmons, has been in central Illinois the last few days shooting a new film.

“Baking Up Love,” which is set to air on Pure Flix Sept. 1, is about an international bake-off at Morton’s Pumpkin Festival.

Timmons told Good Day Central Illinois’ Matt Sheehan about his character, Pastor Mark.

“I’m not traditionally known as an actor,” Timmons laughed. “Hopefully people give me a break when they watch this, because I’m with some great actors.”

Timmons said he heard about the film through Candice Cain, the Owner and President of Gemelli Films.

“She’s had enormous amounts of success,” Timmons said. “She literally baked up this movie and brought it to Morton. It’s a cute movie with some very great actors and I’m honored to be in it.”

Timmons said being in Morton reminds him of growing up in small town Ohio. He said the people in central Illinois have been extremely welcoming and kind.

“They’ve been amazing, that’s what you get in the midwest. I’ve lived in New York, L.A., and now Las Vegas. There are nice people everywhere around the world, but there’s nothing like the Midwest,” Timmons said. “Mayor Kauffman has been amazing, really instrumental in putting this all together.”

Timmons said his popular boy band, 98 Degrees, is back in action making music. They took an extended break from about 2003-2012, and then came back for a reunion. A reunion that hasn’t stopped.

“We all had families and different things,” Timmons said. “I’ve been doing more behind-the-scenes things. We’ve been back touring and having more fun than ever the last few years. The pandemic impacted us, just like it impacted everyone else. We had 50 some dates to go on the road, and our fans have been turning out in droves. We’re gonna get back on the road and do some new music, too. We’ve got a great manager, Johnny Wright. He’s known for managing Backstreet and Justin Timberlake. He’s helped inject and reinvigorate our career with some great ideas.”

Timmons teased the new music and performances 98 Degrees is working.

“The first one is the New York State Fair. It’s lovely to see people out, without masks on, and back to normal life. We’ve got quite a few we’re gonna be announcing soon. We always do stuff with Disney at Epcot. We also visit the smaller towns too. That’s really what made 98 Degrees. The secondary, tertiary markets. We’ll be doing everything here and there,” Timmons said.

The crew of Baking Up Love is set to return to Morton August 28 to premiere the movie for central Illinois.