Jonathan Bennett (actor)

Jonathan David Bennett (born June 10, 1981)^[1] is an American actor and television host. He is known for his roles as Aaron Samuels in the 2004 comedy film Mean Girls,^[2] Bud McNulty in 2005's Cheaper by the Dozen 2, the title character in the 2009 direct-to-DVD comedy Van Wilder: Freshman Year, and his recurring role as Casey Gant in the mystery drama Veronica Mars. He was the host of the Food Network series Halloween Wars, and he previously hosted Cake Wars.

Jonathan Bennett
Born	Jonathan David Bennett (1981-06-10) June 10, 1981 (age 43) Rossford, Ohio, U.S.
Occupations	Actor television host
Years active	2001–present
Known for	Mean Girls Spamalot
Spouse	Jaymes Vaughan ​ (m. 2022)​

Bennett made his Broadway debut in Spamalot on January 23, 2024, playing Sir Robin, Guard 1 and Brother Maynard.^[3]

Early life

Bennett was born in Ohio,^[1] to David Bennett, a physician from Toledo, and Ruthanne Bennett (née Mason). He has two half-brothers, Brian and Brent, and one half-sister, Lisa.^[4][5]

Bennett attended Eagle Point Elementary School in Rossford, Ohio, and graduated from Rossford High School in 1999.^[6] Bennett attended Otterbein University.^{[7][8][non-primary source needed]}

Career

After moving to New York, he was cast on the ABC soap opera All My Children as JR Chandler from 2001 to 2002. Since then, he has appeared in various television dramas, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Smallville, and Veronica Mars.

Bennett co-starred in the 2004 comedy movie Mean Girls as Aaron Samuels, the love interest of star Lindsay Lohan's character.^[9] In 2005, he co-starred in the family comedy movie Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and the romantic comedy movie Lovewrecked. In 2007, Bennett appeared in the direct-to-video prequel TV series The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning, in which he played Bo Duke. In 2009, he starred as the title character in Van Wilder: Freshman Year,^[9] and appeared as Nick in the Hallmark original movie Elevator Girl.

On September 4, 2014, Bennett was announced as one of the celebrities competing on the 19th season of Dancing with the Stars. He was paired with professional dancer Allison Holker.^[9][10] Bennett and Holker were eliminated on Week 6 of the competition and finished in 9th place.^[11]

From 2015 to 2017, Bennett hosted the Food Network cooking competition show Cake Wars.^[12]

In 2016, Bennett played gay sports agent Lucas in two episodes of Hit the Floor.^[13]

In 2018, with celebrity chef Nikki Martin, he released a pop culture cookbook titled The Burn CookBook.^[14]

In 2019, he was featured in the filmed poem rendition Love Goes Never Alone, in support of the LGBT+ community, for the online theatre publication First Night Magazine, performing next to other film, television and theatre celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz, Debra Messing, Neil Gaiman, and Sharon Osbourne.^[15]

On January 13, 2019, it was announced that Bennett would be a houseguest on the second season of the reality competition show Celebrity Big Brother.^[16][17]

In 2022, Bennett starred in the first LGBTQ-led Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, The Holiday Sitter.^[18]

Bennett and spouse Jaymes appeared together on the July 8, 2022, wedding-themed episode of Trixie Motel entitled Oh Honeymoon. They provide support and advice to the groom-to-be.

Personal life

Bennett is openly gay. On November 30, 2020, representatives for Bennett confirmed he was engaged to Amazing Race contestant and current Celebrity Page host Jaymes Vaughan, who proposed on the set for The Christmas House with an original song.^[19][20] In 2021, Bennett and Vaughan became the first gay couple to appear on the cover of the magazine The Knot.^[21] In March 2022, the couple got married at the Unico Riviera Maya Hotel in Mexico.^[22]

Bennett's mother Ruthanne died November 30, 2012, aged 67.^[4] His father, David, died on April 28, 2014, aged 73.^[5]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Season of Youth	Taylor	Palm Beach International Film Festival Award for Best Actor
2004	Mean Girls	Aaron Samuels	Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Chemistry (shared with Lindsay Lohan) Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout Movie Star - Male
2005	Love Wrecked	Ryan Howell
	Cheaper by the Dozen 2	Bud McNulty
2006	Bachelor Party Vegas	Nathan
2009	The Assistants	Zack Cooper
	Van Wilder: Freshman Year	Van Wilder
2012	Memorial Day	SSgt Kyle Vogel
	Music High	Jasper "Jazz" Poland
	Divorce Invitation	Michael	Remake of 1997 Indian Telugu movie Aahwaanam
	Slightly Single in L.A.	Seven
	Christmas Crush	Ben
2013	Pawn	Aaron	Also executive producer
	Anything Is Possible	George
	The Secret Village	Greg
	Misogynist	Harrison	Nominated – Los Angeles International Underground Film Festival LAIUFF Award for Best Actor also co-producer
2014	Authors Anonymous	William Bruce	Also executive producer
	Mining for Ruby	Andrew
	A Christmas Kiss II	Sebastian
2015	Paid in Full	Jack
	Cats Dancing on Jupiter	Ben Cross
	A Dogwalker's Christmas Tale	Dean Stanton
2016	Submerged	Matt
	Do Over	Anthony Campana
	Romantically Speaking	Nathan
	Deadly Retreat	Mike
	Do You Take This Man	Christopher	Also co-producer
2017	Bride to Be	Danny
2019	The Haunting of Sharon Tate	Jay Sebring
	Love on Repeat	Kevin
2021	Potato Dreams of America	Jesus Christ
2023	Fire Island	Rafael
	Christmas on Cherry Lane	Mike

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001–2002	All My Children	JR Chandler	Main role
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Kyle Fuller	Episode: "Deception" & "Vulnerable"
2003	Boston Public	Ethan Guest	Episode: "Chapter Sixty-Three"
2004–2005	Veronica Mars	Casey Gant	2 episodes
2005	Smallville	Kevin Grady	Episode: "Blank"
2007	The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning	Bo Duke	Television film
	Cane	Brad	Episode: "Time Away"
2010	Elevator Girl	Nick Sweeney	Television film
2012	Fred: The Show	Lash Landridge	Episode: "Freddy and the Figglettes, Part 2"
	Christmas Crush	Ben Oliver	Television film
2013	The Wrong Woman	Ben	Television film
	Police Guys	Himself	Television film
	The Glades	Drew Green	Episode: "Killer Barbecue"
2014	Sweet Surrender	Jerry	Television film
	Dancing with the Stars	Contestant	Season 19
	Copycat MTV[23]	Host
	A Christmas Kiss II	Sebastian	Television film
2015	Romantically Speaking	Nathan	Television film
	Christmas Cookie Challenge	Host
2015–2017	Cake Wars	Host
2016	Hit the Floor	Lucas	Episodes: "Blocked" and "Good D"
	Awkward	Ethan	Recurring role (Season 5)
	Cupcake Wars	Host
2016–2020, 2023–present	Halloween Wars	Host
2017	Love at First Glance	Victor	Television film
2018	The Last Sharknado: It's About Time	Billy the Kid	Television film
	Christmas Made to Order	Steven	Television film
2018–2019	Entertainment Tonight	Reporter
2019	Celebrity Big Brother	Contestant	Season 2
	Supergirl	Quentin	Episode: "Stand and Deliver"
	Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club	Himself	Episode: "After the Show"
2019–present	Times Square Ball	Host
2020	Station 19	Michael	Episodes: "Ice Ice Baby" and "No One Is Alone"
	RuPaul's Drag Race	Guest judge	Episode: "Snatch Game"
	The Christmas House	Brandon Nock	Television film
2021	The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls		Television film
2022	Wedding of a Lifetime	Jake	Television film
	The Holiday Sitter	Sam	Television film
2023	Fantasy Island	Oliver	Episode: "Forever and a Day"
2023–present	Food Network's Battle of the Decades	Host

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist	Ref.
2018	"Thank U, Next"	Ariana Grande	[24]

References

1. "Jonathan Bennett". TV Guide. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015.
2. Maltin, Leonard (August 5, 2008). Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide. Penguin. pp. 893. ISBN 978-0-452-28978-9. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
3. Spamalot Announcement
4. "Ruthanne Bennett Obituary". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. December 2, 2012. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2015 – via Legacy.com. She is survived by her loving son, Jonathan Bennett [with no other children listed]...
5. "David Bennett Obituary". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. April 30, 2014. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2015 – via Legacy.com. Survived by his children, Brian Bennett, Lisa Horner, Brent Bennett and Jonathan Bennett.
6. "Rossford drama club holds rally for grad on TV show". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. September 15, 2014. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
7. Otterbein University Theatre Department [@otterbeintheatr] (October 3, 2017). "October 3rd is known as "Mean Girls Day," but did you know that @JonathanBennett aka Aaron Samuels was a former Otterbein student? Grool!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
8. "Jonathan Bennett, who attended Otterbein (pictured on the far left) and played Aaron Samuels in "Mean Girls," was announced as one of 13 celebrity dancers on Season 19 of Dancing with the Stars". Otterbein University Alumni Facebook page. September 4, 2014.
9. "Toledo Native Dances in Parents' Memory". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
10. "'Dancing With The Stars' 2014: Season 19 Couples Ready to Tango". Good Morning America/Yahoo News. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
11. Reiher, Andrea (October 20, 2014). "'Dancing With the Stars' Season 19 week 6 scores and elimination results". Zap2It.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
12. "Cake Wars on Food Network Canada".
13. Hinzmann, Dennis (January 13, 2016). "First Look at Adam Senn and Brent Antonello in Hit the Floor Season 3". Out. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
14. Fecteau, Jessica (October 3, 2018). "Mean Girls' Jonathan Bennett Wants to 'Make Fetch-uccine Alfredo Happen' with the Burn Cookbook". People. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
15. "Love Goes Never Alone". First Night Magazine. July 5, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
16. Porreca, Brian (January 13, 2019). "'Celebrity Big Brother' Cast Includes Anthony Scaramucci, Dina Lohan and Ryan Lochte". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
17. Ross, Dalton (January 13, 2019). "Anthony Scaramucci among 12 new Celebrity Big Brother houseguests". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
18. Sim, Bernardo (December 8, 2022). "Jonathan Bennett Talks Starring in Hallmark's 1st Gay-Led Holiday Film". Out Magazine.
19. Schnurr, Samantha (November 30, 2020). "Mean Girls' Jonathan Bennett Is Engaged to Boyfriend Jaymes Vaughan". E!. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020.
20. VanHoose, Benjamin (November 30, 2020). "Mean Girls Star Jonathan Bennett Is Engaged to Boyfriend Jaymes Vaughan: 'Can't Wait to Get Married!'". People. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
21. "Jonathan Bennett, Fiance Jaymes Vaughan Become First Gay Couple To Cover 'The Knot'". ontopmag.com.
22. Brody, Lanae; Knapp, JD (March 21, 2022). "Mean Girls' Jonathan Bennett and Jaymes Vaughan Wed in Inclusive Ceremony: 'We're So Blessed'". People. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
23. Goldberg, Lesley (October 15, 2013). "'Mean Girls' Alum Set to Host MTV's 'Copycat' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
24. Aiello, McKenna (November 30, 2018). "All the Celebrity Cameos in Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next Music Video". E! News. Retrieved November 30, 2018.

External links

• Jonathan Bennett at IMDb
• Jonathan Bennett at AllMovie