When the second of three movies in “The Groomsmen” trilogy makes its Hallmark Channel premiere on September 13, 2025, co-creator and star Jonathan Bennett is hoping everyone with a heart will be watching as he and his co-stars make history.
The trilogy — co-starring Bennett and fellow Hallmark heartthrobs B.J. Britt and Tyler Hynes — debuted on the network’s new streaming platform, Hallmark+, weeks after the streamer launched in the fall of 2024. But now, Hallmark’s first rom-coms told from the male perspective are premiering on its powerhouse cable channel, including this weekend’s “The Groomsmen: Second Chances.”
Though he adored making all three movies, telling EntertainmentNow “you can tell how much care was put into them when you watch,” the second movie’s storyline is particularly important to Bennett. He has worked for years to help expand Hallmark’s LGBTQ+ representation and “The Groomsmen: Second Chances” is about to make history as the first movie on Hallmark Channel to feature a gay wedding.
“For this to come out and reach such a broad audience on Hallmark Channel, there’s so much power and meaning behind that,” Bennett said. “And at the end of the day, it’s just a great movie. It’s hilarious and charming, and it works on all levels. I just want people to watch and I know they’ll love it like we do.”
Jonathan Bennett is Thrilled to Make the Kind of Family-Friendly Rom-Com He Longed For as a Kid
“The Groomsmen” trilogy follows three best buds — pediatrician Pete played by Britt, social media guru Jackson played by Hynes, and assistant MLB coach Danny played by Bennett — with each movie chronicling one friend’s journey to finding true love.
In “The Groomsmen: Second Chances,” Pete and Jackson finally convince Danny to admit his feelings for a lifelong friend who’s also gay, played by Alexander Lincoln. The movie already won the 2025 GLAAD Award for Outstanding Film, Streaming or TV — but to also score a ratings win this weekend, Bennett told EntertainmentNow, would be the “best present for us, ever.”
“It almost feels surreal that the world is going to get to see this,” Bennett said, “because I think about what movies I had growing up when I was younger, watching TV with my family. I didn’t have movies that had a love that looked like mine, or a group of friends that looked like this in them. And now we do.”
Jonathan Bennett Says Hallmark Helped Him Realize His ‘Life’s Mission’
HallmarkBennett first became a household name playing high school heartthrob Aaron Samuels in the 2004 hit comedy “Mean Girls,” but didn’t come out publicly until 2017. He found an ally in Hallmark Channel exec Michelle Vicary (who rejoined the network in August after a couple of years away) when she championed the making of 2020’s “The Christmas House” with an ensemble cast that included him and Brad Harder as a gay couple.
“We got to make history as the first same sex kiss in a Christmas movie,” Bennett told EntertainmentNow. “And ever since that movie, I just knew it was my life’s mission to tell queer stories to a broad audience.”
“We’re not telling gay stories for a gay audience,” he continued. “We’re telling gay stories for the general population. And the best part about it is Hallmark is the place everyone goes for love stories. So why should we not be representing the people that watch their movies, which is everyone.”
Early Pushback From Hallmark Viewers on Queer Love Stories Has Practically Disappeared, Jonathan Bennett Says
HallmarkBennett, who married singer and TV personality Jaymes Vaughan in 2022, can remember how movies with queer couples, like in “The Christmas House,” caused panic in some Hallmark viewers early on.
“I was happy to be the first person to tell these stories loudly and boldly on Hallmark Channel because I knew there was going to be pushback from some of the viewers,” he told EntertainmentNow. “I knew there would be some bad comments, but I would rather get those comments than someone else, because I can handle it.”
“I know that those comments don’t always come from hate, they often come from ignorance,” Bennett said, explaining that the people who write them “might not know a gay person, they might not have friends or family that are gay.”
“But it’s really hard to hate someone that you know,” Bennett continued. “It’s easy to send nasty messages into the void of the internet when you’ve never actually seen or talked to that person on the receiving end. But once you actually connect with them, either by watching their movies or by meeting them in person or whatever, it’s a lot harder to hate them.”
That’s why Bennett prides himself on being a bit of an ambassador for Hallmark, from co-hosting the sold-out Christmas cruise to appearing at events like the Hallmark Christmas Experience in Kansas City. Bennett noted that the “nasty” comments have all but disappeared over the last five years of him showing up in new ways, onscreen and off.
He beamed, “I just want people to see I’m their friend, that my love is just the same as theirs, and everybody’s story matters.”
“The Groomsmen: Second Chances” premieres on Hallmark Channel on September 13 at 8 p.m. Eastern time and can also be streamed on Hallmark+.
