Jonathan Bennett’s Husband Designed a Historic Engagement Ring For Him — Learn Who The Hallmark Star Is Married To
Jonathan Bennett has been a trailblazer for the Hallmark Channel. He starred in some of the network’s first same-sex movies and has been a champion for more LGBTQ+ inclusion at the holiday hit maker. In real life, Bennett has a love story just as beautiful as the ones he now portrays. Who is Jonathan Bennett’s husband? Keep reading to find out.
Bennett got his start on the soap opera All My Children, in which he briefly played J.R. Chandler from 2001 to 2002. He gained widespread recognition for his role as teen heartthrob Aaron Samuels on the 2004 hit movie Mean Girls. Bennett and his Mean Girls co-star, Lacey Chabert, then teamed up and made their Hallmark debut in the 2010 movie Elevator Girl. In the years since, the actor has gone on to pioneer the network’s LGBTQ+ representation. He starred in Hallmark’s first holiday movie featuring a gay lead character — 2020’s The Christmas House and it’s 2021 sequel — and in 2022, he starred in The Holiday Sitter, which was Hallmark’s first Christmas romantic comedy to center on a gay couple.
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“It means so many things, not just to me but to so many people to be in The Holiday Sitter,” Bennett told Entertainment Tonight of his historic movie, which he also executive produced. “Representation matters and I know so many people are going to see this and feel so included at the holiday table this year. So it just feels great.”
This holiday season, Bennett stars in another LGBTQ+ role in Christmas on Cherry Lane, which premieres on December 9 as part of Hallmark’s 2023 Countdown to Christmas event. In the movie, a young couple (Bennett and Zain Harrelson) unexpectedly get the opportunity to welcome a child into their family on Christmas Eve.
Off the screen, Bennett is in a loving relationship of his own. So, who is Jonathan Bennett’s husband? Find out below.
Who is Jonathan Bennett’s husband?
Who is Jonathan Bennett’s husband? The Hallmark star is married to Jaymes Vaughan, a television host and reality TV star. Vaughan has worked as a host for several different entertainment-focused outlets, including Access Hollywood and Celebrity Page, the latter of which led him to meet Bennett. While he was working at Celebrity Page, Vaughan interviewed his future husband in 2016 about his Food Network competition series Halloween Wars. “The reason that you and I are together and the reason that I found the love of my life is because of Halloween Wars,” Bennett said in a 2020 interview with Celebrity Page.
In addition to his hosting credits, Vaughan has also appeared on various reality TV shows. In 2012, he competed on The Amazing Race and placed second, and he recently appeared on MTV’s 2023 reality series The Real Friends of WeHo.
After dating for several years, Vaughan asked Bennett to marry him with a surprise proposal in November 2020. The sweet moment was captured on video and shared on Instagram a month later by Bennett, earning thousands of views. As the actor explained in the caption, he was shocked to walk into his backyard and find Vaughan holding a sign explaining that he had written and made an original song about their love story. As the song played, he got down on one knee and proposed, while Bennett started screaming and crying. “To say it was the best day of my life would be an understatement,” Bennett wrote. “I can’t believe I get to marry my best friend. I am so happy we got to share this moment with some family and friends who were there and also with all of you. The support we have received has been overwhelming and we hope this brought you a little joy and magic during this time.”
In a later interview with Brides, Vaughan revealed that he enlisted Kay Jewelry’s help to make the moment even more special by creating a same-sex engagement and wedding band all in one — the first of its kind offered by the retailer. “I wanted to do this for Jon, so that it was something special for us, but then realized it wasn’t out there, I wanted to do this for our community,” he said.
“The fact that I looked down on my finger and I saw history being made. This is a huge deal. If you’re not gay, I don’t think you get it, but this is history,” Bennett added. “So the best part of the proposal—other than the fact that I get to marry Jaymes, my best friend—was looking down and seeing history being made on my finger because this is so much bigger than us.”
Bennett and Vaughan tied the knot on March 19, 2022, at the Unico Riviera Maya Hotel in Mexico. The couple met at the altar after walking in from the beach to the same song Vaughan wrote for Bennett. “It was honestly a dream wedding! We kept having to stop and remind ourselves that we weren’t on a movie set, but this was actually our real life,” Bennett told People of the nuptials. “If you had told me this was one of my Hallmark movie sets, I would have believed it. It was that perfect.”
The Christmas Made to Order star shared a series of photos from their wedding day on Instagram, writing in the caption: “We highly recommend standing next to the person you love and declaring that love loudly and boldly, in front of your chosen family and as unapologetically emotional as you want.” He continued, “Because it is the biggest honor and most magical moment you will ever have.”
The pair’s wedding inspired them to pay it forward, and in November 2023, they teamed up with Maybelline to launch a nationwide contest to give another lucky couple their dream wedding at the exact same resort in Mexico.
“We live a very blessed life, and we realized in the moment of our wedding last year that we really wanted to find a way to give this experience to another deserving couple,” Bennett told People. “So after saying ‘I do’ ourselves, we set out on a mission to make this happen for someone else.” The winning couple were Sarah and Jenna Capps, who have been married for 10 years and wanted to have another wedding after Jenna came out as transgender in 2020. Bennett officiated the ceremony.
Christmas on Cherry Lane premieres on Hallmark on December 9 at 8/7c.
For more on Hallmark, check out this gallery on Hallmark’s 2023 Countdown to Christmas calendar.
