As many of Hallmark Channel’s top stars gathered to celebrate the network’s 25th birthday on August 5, 2026, longtime fan-favorite Jonathan Bennett had a brilliant idea: ask his Hallmark colleagues what they remember about being 25!
During the two-hour sunset cruise along New York City’s Hudson River, Bennett walked around the boat, filming as his Hallmark pals spilled some serious tea about what they were like when they were younger, from famous friends to wild days. Bennett posted a montage of footage on August 6, and we are living for their fascinating and funny answers!
Jonathan Bennett Got Awesome Insights About His Hallmark Pals’ Pasts
Bennett received all kinds of answers from the fellow Hallmark stars he spoke with. When he asked Victor Webster what he remembers about being 25, the “Hannah Swensen Mysteries” star chuckled, “I can’t talk about that! I, uh, lived life when I was 25, to the fullest!”
Ashley Williams, who stars in “Much About Love” on August 29, quipped, “I remember my tight body. It was so cute!”
Bennett’s dear friend Rachel Boston noted that they’d known each other since before their 25, and recalled how she would walk from her apartment “right around the corner” to his when they were that age.
Kimberley Sustad quipped to Bennett, “Well, I am 25. Just turned 25 and it feels so great!” But she then added the fascinating detail, “I think I was living in South Korea at the time, on my 25th birthday!”
Jonathan Bennett Couldn’t Get a Straight Answer From Tyler Hynes
GettyBennett started his Q&A with his co-star in “The Groomsmen” trilogy, Hallmark heartthrob Tyler Hynes, who turned 40 on May 6. After asking Hynes what he remembers about being 25, the Hallmark hunk’s answers were interspersed throughout the video, beginning with him quipping, “You mean, today?”
Hynes later joked, “It was the day I saw ‘Mean Girls,'” a reference to Bennett’s iconic movie co-starring Lacey Chabert and Lindsay Lohan, and then, “It was the day I became a man.”
“It’s the day I dreamt of one day making a movie called ‘The Groomsmen,'” he concluded, wrapping his arm around Bennett’s shoulders as the two laughed.
Though Hynes never gave his buddy a straight answer about what he remembers about turning 25, he was awfully busy back in 2011, before his days at Hallmark. Around the age of 25, Hynes appeared in an episode of “NCIS,” had a small role in the movie “Immortals,” and had a recurring role on NBC’s “The Firm.”
Hynes and Bennett’s “The Groomsmen” co-star, BJ Britt, 44, wasn’t much more forthcoming with Bennett, laughing as he admitted, “I was not the brightest bulb in the box at 25!”
And when Bennett asked 38-year-old actress Heather Hemmens, who was also part of “The Groomsmen” cast, what she remembered about being 25, she deadpanned, “Not much, thankfully!”
Holly Robinson Peete Recalls Leaning on Whitney Houston After a Breakup at 25
GettyLongtime Hallmark star and 90s icon Holly Robinson Peete, 61, had a great story about being 25, telling Bennett, “I’m gonna drop a name: Whitney Houston. I had just gotten my heart broken by somebody who you’ll read about in my memoir, and I cried on her shoulder.”
Noting that the music legend had been working with her producer beau, who remained unnamed, Robinson Peete recalled, “I said, ‘Oh my god, I ruined my whole life for this guy, he was so mean to me!’ And she said, ‘Girl, you ain’t nothing but dumb 25. You’re dumb 25.’ So that’s the name of the (book) chapter, ‘Dumb 25!'”
Other Hallmark Channel Stars Recalled Loving Their Work at 25
GettyBenjamin Ayres, 49, revealed that he was part of a sketch comedy troupe at 25, recalling, “We would sell out, then we would take the money from our one-week show and with the money we made, we would rent a house in Tofino. We would buy alcohol and food, we would go spend four days there, and we would write our next show. We would surf and just hang out, and it was the best time of my life.”
Autumn Reeser, 45, also recalled working at 25, laughing about how she spent her days pretending she was 15 on “The O.C.”
Alison Sweeney, 49, told Bennett, “I had just gotten married, newly married, and I was working at ‘Days of Our Lives.’ I remember that.”This is the scary thing about my career, is that I only remember things that happened to my character. My real life is like a total blur. All I remember is Sami Brady! I have mixed feelings about that now!”
Marilu Henner, 74, said that she moved out to LA at 25, telling Bennett, “I had to go to Los Angeles to do my very first screen test opposite Richard Gere for a Robert Mulligan film called ‘Blood Brothers’ and it changed my life because I moved to Los Angeles and I got ‘Taxi’ shortly thereafter.”
