By Marcus Wratten

Copyright thepinknews

Jonathan Bennett’s GLAAD award-winning film The Groomsmen: Second Chances has made history by becoming the first film featuring a gay wedding to air on the Hallmark Channel.

The Groomsmen: Second Chances stars Mean Girls actor Jonathan Bennett as former pro basketball player turned coach Danny, while his business manager and eventual husband Zack is played by This Biter Earth and A Night Like This actor, Alexander Lincoln.

The bulk of the film focuses on Danny’s attempts to suppress his feelings for his friend, while Zack plans his wedding to his partner Nolan (Adam Rhys-Charles). Yet, and this is a pretty hefty spoiler alert, on the day of the wedding, Zack confesses that Danny’s feelings are reciprocated.

The end of the film flashes forward, and shows Danny and Zack finally getting wed in Greece, the same location Danny and Nolan were set to get married in.

The romantic comedy, which was first released in 2024, aired on the Hallmark Channel on Saturday (13 September), marking the first time a gay wedding had been shown on the hugely popular channel.

The Hallmark Channel specialises in romantic and holiday shows and films.

The Groomsmen: Second Chances is the second instalment in the The Groomsmen trilogy, which features Bennett as an executive producer.

In a video posted on his Instagram, Bennett said he was “so proud” to be making history on the Hallmark Channel, and urged his fans to give the film a watch.

“I am so proud that we got to create these movies and I am kindly asking our community and our allies for your support. It’s so special for me to get to tell a love story that looks like mine on camera,” he shared.

Bennett married his own partner, Jaymes Vaughan, in 2022.

“I want to keep making these, and we want to keep making these, because I know that stories like this they have the power to change hearts and minds,” Bennett continued.

“They have the power to help people feel seen. It’s a love story after all, right?”

In a separate post, Bennett lathered his co-star Lincoln with praise.

“Alex Lincoln appreciation post: Alex you are the true star of The Groomsmen: Second Chances. When I set out to tell the first gay wedding story on Hallmark, I knew that this role would be crucial to the film success,” he wrote.

“Alex has the thing you can’t explain, he has that ‘it factor’ that makes you love him from the moment he walks into a room, or walks one screen. His acting is superbly grounded and raw and real and it makes you lean forward in your seat to watch what he’s saying. This movie couldn’t have turned out the way it did without this man, he was the glue that helped glue The Groomsmen together.”

“It’s no wonder he’s becoming a super star in the industry because when you’ve got it, you’ve got it,” he continued. “I will forever be grateful to you, Alex, for coming into our film universe and helping make history at Hallmark and making all of us shine.”

Lincoln responded to Bennett’s sweet words by stating that working with Bennett was one of his “more treasured memories”.

“It was up there with the most fun I’ve had on a shoot AND with the most incredible people in the most incredible places, I can’t. Love love and more love,” he wrote.

The Groomsmen: Second Chances won the Outstanding Film – Streaming or TV award at the 2025 GLAAD Media Awards. All three films in the trilogy are now streaming on the Hallmark Channel’s streaming service, Hallmark+.Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.