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 ''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (in her film debut), Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler and Fe ...

'', Bud McNulty in 2005's ''

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 ''Cheaper by the Dozen 2'' is a 2005 American family comedy film directed by Adam Shankman. It is a sequel to the 2003 film ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' and stars Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Tom Welling, Piper Perabo, and Hilary Duff, among other chil ...

'', 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 ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...

''. He was the host of the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

series ''

Halloween Wars ''Halloween Wars'' is an American reality competition series from Super Delicious, the production company that also produces ''Cupcake Wars'' and ''Cake Wars''. It premiered on October 2, 2011, on Food Network and it runs over the course of four ...

'', and he previously hosted ''

Cake Wars ''Cake Wars'' is an American reality competition series that was first broadcast on June 29, 2015, aired on Food Network. Jonathan Bennett hosted the competition, where four bakers face off to have their cakes featured in a special event, in ...

''.

Early life

Bennett was born in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, to David Bennett, a Toledo physician, 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 Rossford is a city in Wood County, Ohio, Wood County, Ohio, United States, located along the Maumee River in the Toledo metropolitan area. The population was 6,293 at the United States Census 2010, 2010 census. The town includes the intersection o ...

, and graduated from

Rossford High School Rossford High School is a public high school in Rossford, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Rossford Exempted Village School District. The district mainly serves the city of Rossford and also includes parts of the city of N ...

in 1999. Bennett attended

Otterbein University Otterbein University is a private university in Westerville, Ohio. It offers 74 majors and 44 minors as well as eight graduate programs. The university was founded in 1847 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ and named for United Bre ...

Career

After moving to New York, he was cast on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

'' as

JR Chandler Adam "JR" Chandler Jr. is a fictional character from the ABC and The Online Network daytime drama ''All My Children''. He was portrayed by Jacob Young from 2003 to 2011, prior to Ryan Bittle taking over the role in 2013. Bittle was cast as the ne ...

from 2001 to 2002. Since then, he has appeared in various television dramas, including '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...

'', and ''

''. Bennett co-starred in the 2004 comedy movie ''

'' as Aaron Samuels, the love interest of star

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at the age of three. Having appeared as a regular on the television soap opera '' An ...

's character. In 2005, he co-starred in the family comedy movie ''

'' and the romantic comedy movie '' Lovewrecked''. In 2007, Bennett appeared in the

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

prequel TV series '' The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning'', in which he played

Bo Duke Beauregard "Bo" Duke (born circa 1957) is a fictional character in the American television series ''The Dukes of Hazzard'', which ran from 1979 to 1985. He was played by John Schneider. Bo and his cousin Lucas K. "Luke" Duke (Tom Wopat) live ...

. In 2009, he starred as the title character in '' Van Wilder: Freshman Year'', and appeared as Nick in the

Hallmark A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''hallmark'' can al ...

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 ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

''. He was paired with professional dancer

Allison Holker Allison Renae Holker (born February 6, 1988) is an American dancer, choreographer, and actress. Holker has worked in film, television, and concert tours. She is known for appearances on the television dance competition ''So You Think You Can Dan ...

. Bennett and Holker were eliminated on Week 6 of the competition and finished in 9th place. From 2015 to 2017, Bennett hosted the

cooking competition show ''

''. In 2016, Bennett played gay sports agent Lucas in two episodes of '' Hit the Floor''. In 2018, with

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...

Nikki Martin Nikki Martin (legal name Nicole Heaps)Twitter / BrendaHe ...

, he released a pop culture cookbook titled ''The Burn CookBook''. 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 ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

''. In 2022, Bennett starred in the first LGBTQ-led

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies and ...

Christmas movie, ''The Holiday Sitter''.

Personal life

Bennett is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. Bennett's mother Ruthanne died November 30, 2012, at 67, followed by his father David on April 28, 2014, at 73. On November 30, 2020, representatives for Bennett confirmed he was engaged to ''

Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

'' contestant and current ''

Celebrity Page ''Celebrity Page'' (formerly ''OK!TV'', that is based on the magazine of the same name) is an American syndicated entertainment news program. The series is co-produced with Dotdash Meredith (formerly ''OK!'' US parent company American Media), ...

'' 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.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Jonathan 1981 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male soap opera actors American male television actors Male actors from Toledo, Ohio Otterbein University alumni American gay actors LGBT people from Ohio People from Rossford, Ohio