On December 31, 2025, longtime Hallmark star and Food Network host Jonathan Bennett will ring in 2026 for the 10th consecutive year as host of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration, a webcast watched by millions around the world.
Starting at 6 p.m. Eastern time on New Year’s Eve, the show will stream live on multiple websites, including TimesSquareNYC.org and NewYearsEve.nyc. Bennett told EntertainmentNow that broadcasting live from the heart of New York City as the ball drops is an indescribable experience — but his favorite moment of the night is always the same.
Jonathan Bennett Says Ringing in the New Year With His Husband in Times Square ‘Never Gets Old’
GettyIn the hours leading up to the ball drop, Bennett will be stationed at the Countdown Stage, trading places throughout the night with Ryan Seacrest, who also uses the stage for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” on ABC.
“There’s no bigger party in the world,” Bennett told EntertainmentNow. “I get to stand on the center of the stage in the biggest party on Earth on the biggest night of the year and look outwards at everyone, and that’s the coolest part. You know, it’s not a shabby spot to be!”
But the “A Keller Christmas Vacation” star said his favorite moment each year actually happens after his work is done, when he reconnects with his husband of nearly four years, singer/songwriter Jaymes Vaughan, for a few moments of New Year’s magic.
“When the clock turns 11:55, my job is over,” Bennett said, noting that he’s done just before the music and countdown that happen just before the giant crystal ball drop. “The ball is going to do what the ball is going to do. I don’t have a job, I don’t have to do anything.”
“So at 11:55, I look out at Jaymes when they clear me,” he continued. “I’m like, ‘I’m clear! Come on!’ He runs up on stage with me, and we get to sit on a perch in the middle of Times Square and watch the confetti and do our New Year’s Eve kiss. We’ve (done that) for 10 years and it never gets old.”
Jonathan Bennett Calls Fellow New Year’s Hosts Ryan Seacrest, Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen the ‘Best of the Best’
Bennett, who also hosts Food Network’s “Halloween Wars” and Hallmark’s “Finding Mr. Christmas,” has already been in New York for several days, prepping for the big night and appearing in Times Square for the 19th annual “Good Riddance Day” event on December 28, recording segments with passersby who want to let go of whatever frustrated them in 2025.
On New Year’s Eve, Bennett told EntertainmentNow, he’s right in the middle of all the action, noting, “Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen (CNN’s New Year’s Eve hosts) are about 20 feet in front of me. Then Ryan Seacrest comes up and switches out with me. Ryan comes over to the main stage to do his hits for some of the musical acts, so he and I tag team out and he’ll take my spot for ABC. So I mean, Ryan and Andy and Anderson — like, we’re all together, maybe 20 feet away from each other.”
“It’s not bad company if you’re hosting TV shows to be in the same light as Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen, and Ryan Seacrest,” Bennett quipped. “Like, they’re the best of the best.”
When to Catch Jonathan Bennett on New Year’s Eve Webcast
GettyBennett is scheduled to first appear on the Times Square New Year’s Eve show at 6:28 p.m. Eastern time, according to City Life Org, sharing highlights from Good Riddance Day. He’ll do that several times during the evening.
Musical acts performing on the Countdown Stage, where Bennett hosts the evening’s festivities, include B.O.B., Ciara, Maren Morris, Little Big Town, and Diana Ross. Bennett and Vaughan will also co-host a countdown at the top of each hour for people watching in other countries, reading wishes written on pieces of confetti that fall from the sky.
At 11:55 p.m. Eastern time, that magical moment when Bennett and Vaughn get to relax, Tones and I will perform John Legend’s “Imagine.” At 11:59, according to organizers, the Mayor of New York City will hit the crystal button that triggers the 60-second, 90-foot descent of the New Year’s Eve Ball, which features 5,280 circular Waterford crystals and weighs a whopping 12,350 pounds.
