# Jonathan Bennett (actor)

Jonathan David Bennett (born June 10, 1981) is an American actor and television host. He is known for his roles as Aaron Samuels in the 2004 comedy film Mean Girls, 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.
Bennett made his Broadway debut in Spamalot on January 23, 2024, playing Sir Robin, Guard 1 and Brother Maynard.

## Early life

Bennett was born in Ohio, 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.
Bennett attended Eagle Point Elementary School in Rossford, Ohio, and graduated from Rossford High School in 1999. Bennett attended Otterbein University.

## 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. 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, 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. Bennett and Holker were eliminated on Week 6 of the competition and finished in 9th place.
From 2015 to 2017, Bennett hosted the Food Network cooking competition show Cake Wars.
In 2016, Bennett played gay sports agent Lucas in two episodes of Hit the Floor.
In 2018, with celebrity chef Nikki Martin, he released a pop culture cookbook titled The Burn CookBook.
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.
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.
In 2021, Bennet played Jesus Christ - as an imaginary best friend to the eponymous Russian boy in Wes Hurley's Potato Dreams of America.
In 2022, Bennett starred in the first LGBTQ-led Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, The Holiday Sitter.
Bennett and husband Jaymes Vaughan 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. In 2024, Bennett was announced as the host and the main judge of Hallmark's reality series Finding Mr. Christmas, which premiered on October 31, 2024.

## Personal life

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. In 2021, Bennett and Vaughan became the first gay couple to appear on the cover of the magazine The Knot. In March 2022, the couple got married at the Unico Riviera Maya Hotel in Mexico.
Bennett's mother Ruthanne died November 30, 2012, aged 67. His father, David, died on April 28, 2014, aged 73.

## 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 | |
| 2005 | Cheaper by the Dozen 2 | Bud McNulty | |
| 2006 | Bachelor Party Vegas | Nathan | |
| 2009 | The Assistants | Zack Cooper | |
| 2009 | Van Wilder: Freshman Year | Van Wilder | |
| 2012 | Memorial Day | SSgt Kyle Vogel | |
| 2012 | Music High | Jasper "Jazz" Poland | |
| 2012 | Divorce Invitation | Michael | Remake of 1997 Indian Telugu movie Aahwaanam |
| 2012 | Slightly Single in L.A. | Seven | |
| 2012 | Christmas Crush | Ben | |
| 2013 | Pawn | Aaron | Also executive producer |
| 2013 | Anything Is Possible | George | |
| 2013 | The Secret Village | Greg | |
| 2013 | 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 |
| 2014 | Mining for Ruby | Andrew | |
| 2014 | A Christmas Kiss II | Sebastian | |
| 2015 | Paid in Full | Jack | |
| 2015 | Cats Dancing on Jupiter | Ben Cross | |
| 2015 | A Dogwalker's Christmas Tale | Dean Stanton | |
| 2016 | Submerged | Matt | |
| 2016 | Do Over | Anthony Campana | |
| 2016 | Romantically Speaking | Nathan | |
| 2016 | Deadly Retreat | Mike | |
| 2016 | Do You Take This Man | Christopher | Also co-producer |
| 2017 | Bride to Be | Danny | |
| 2019 | The Haunting of Sharon Tate | Jay Sebring | |
| 2019 | Love on Repeat | Kevin | |
| 2021 | Potato Dreams of America | Jesus Christ | |
| 2023 | Fire Island | Rafael | |
| 2023 | 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" |
| 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 |
| 2007 | 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" |
| 2012 | Christmas Crush | Ben Oliver | Television film |
| 2013 | The Wrong Woman | Ben | Television film |
| 2013 | Police Guys | Himself | Television film |
| 2013 | The Glades | Drew Green | Episode: "Killer Barbecue" |
| 2014 | Sweet Surrender | Jerry | Television film |
| 2014 | Dancing with the Stars | Contestant | Season 19 |
| 2014 | Copycat MTV | Host | |
| 2014 | A Christmas Kiss II | Sebastian | Television film |
| 2015 | Romantically Speaking | Nathan | Television film |
| 2015 | Christmas Cookie Challenge | Host | |
| 2015–2017 | Cake Wars | Host | |
| 2016 | Hit the Floor | Lucas | Episodes: "Blocked" and "Good D" |
| 2016 | Awkward | Ethan | Recurring role (Season 5) |
| 2016 | 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 |
| 2018 | Christmas Made to Order | Steven | Television film |
| 2018–2019 | Entertainment Tonight | Reporter | |
| 2019 | Celebrity Big Brother | Contestant | Season 2 |
| 2019 | Supergirl | Quentin | Episode: "Stand and Deliver" |
| 2019 | Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club | Himself | Episode: "After the Show" |
| 2019–present | Times Square Ball | Host | Annual live webcast |
| 2020 | Station 19 | Michael | Episodes: "Ice Ice Baby" and "No One Is Alone" |
| 2020 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Guest judge | Episode: "Snatch Game" |
| 2020 | The Christmas House | Brandon Nock | Television film |
| 2021 | The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls | Brandon Nock | Television film |
| 2022 | Wedding of a Lifetime | Jake | Television film |
| 2022 | 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 | |
| 2024 | Finding Mr. Christmas | Host and judge |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist | Ref. |
| 2018 | "Thank U, Next" | Ariana Grande | |