When fans check out “Paris Is Always a Good Idea” — which begins streaming on Hallmark+ on July 30 — they’ll see Lacey Chabert as a character named Chelsea Martin, and Scott Michael Foster as her rival Jason Knightly.
Although you’ll get to know both Chelsea and Jason during the series’ six hour-long episodes, it turns out that no one on the show’s set actually called Foster’s character by his first name for a very particular reason.
Beyond that, when the explanation behind the name situation was addressed during a new interview with Chabert and Foster, it revived a cheeky dating theory that applies to real-life relationships and even involves Taylor Swift.
Call Him Knightly, Not Jason
HallmarkWhen Chabert and Foster sat down for a chat with Soaps that was shared on Tuesday, July 28, the duo unexpectedly brought a viral dating theory back to life.
It all stemmed from the fact that, as we mentioned above, Foster’s “Paris Is Always a Good Idea” character is named Jason Knightly.
Indeed, “[c]areer-driven nonprofit executive Chelsea Martin (Chabert) travels to Paris with her confident rival-turned-ally, Jason Knightly (Foster) to secure a major donation, but a heartfelt message from her late mother — and a loving push from her sister Annabelle (Rebecca Hanssen) — sends her on an unexpected journey to reconnect with the three great loves she once left behind,” according to Hallmark.
While Chelsea may or may not find love with Jason, not everyone has experienced romantic success with someone who has that name or one that’s similar in a specific way.
In fact, during the interview with Soaps, Foster said, “It’s funny, you keep calling him ‘Jason,’ and we had a thing on set. His name is ‘Knightly.’ It’s not ‘Jason.’ It’s ‘Knightly’ because someone had a bad experience with someone named ‘Jason.’ So, he’s ‘Knightly.’”
At that point, Soaps mentioned to the Hallmark stars an “internet dating theory” that claims every woman has had a less than ideal experience with someone whose first name begins with “J.”
Foster tried to explain why that might be the case by noting that there are simply a lot of names that start with “J” and, therefore, you’re perhaps more likely to date someone with a name that begins with that letter. He stated, “I think it’s probably just numbers.”
Even Taylor Swift Was Caught Up In the ‘J’ Name Theory
GettyIf you’ve heard about the “J” name dating theory before this, it might have been back in 2023, which is when Taylor Swift — who is now happily married to Travis Kelce — split from actor Joe Alwyn.
The New York Post pointed out at the time that “according to proponents of the J-name theory, their love was doomed from the start” due to his moniker.
Granted, the singer isn’t the only one who has had a relationship potentially affected by the theory.
“Whether it’s a disastrous first date or uncovering a secret via his tagged photos on Instagram…, it’s the first question my friends and I will ask after hearing a dating horror story,” according to Evie. “All of us had a bad experience with a guy with a J name (I’ll admit I have some good experiences, but the bad ones are particularly disastrous), and we’re not alone.”
Indeed, the theory has become so prevelant that it even has an entry in the Urban Dictionary, and you might have spotted it mentioned on TikTok because of the fact that countless posts have been shared by those who have supported or debated the name-related hypothesis.
Of course, this is all just a silly theory, and we’re sure there are plenty of fabulous people whose name starts with the letter “J.”
