Jonathan Bennett was preparing to film a kiss when he noticed more and more people gathering around the set. Crew members had come to watch.

Even the caterers were there.

He was working on The Christmas House in 2020, opposite Brad Harder. The two actors played married men, Brandon and Jake, who were hoping to adopt a child.

In a new interview with Obsessed: The Podcast, Bennett recalls wondering why the scene had attracted such an audience. The director explained that they were about to film Hallmark’s first same-sex kiss. People wanted to witness the moment.

For Bennett, the realization brought a sudden sense of purpose. He describes understanding why telling these stories mattered—and the role he could play in bringing them to a mainstream audience.

It was an affectionate moment between husbands in a Christmas film. For viewers accustomed to seeing only straight couples occupy that space, its simplicity was part of its significance.

Bennett later starred in The Holiday Sitter, the 2022 film that became Hallmark’s first LGBTQ-led Christmas movie. His work continued to make room for gay romance within a genre built around comfort, family and happy endings.

Those stories have a personal connection for him. Away from the cameras, Bennett shares his life with husband Jaymes Vaughan. The couple married in Mexico on March 19, 2022, surrounded by family and friends.

That real-life partnership gives meaning to his determination to portray love stories resembling his own. Two men can fall in love, build a home and celebrate a future together—the familiar ingredients of a romantic film.

In the new interview, Bennett says hostility toward LGBTQ people has strengthened his commitment to that work. He wants to continue creating queer love stories and making sure audiences can see them.

For many viewers, a Christmas movie is a small pleasure at the end of a long day. For someone who has rarely seen their own relationship reflected in that familiar world, it can also offer a welcome feeling of belonging.

The people gathering around the set understood that the kiss marked a change. Bennett’s recollection captures the moment he understood what that change could mean for his own work, too.

📷 Hallmark @jonathandbennett @jaymesv

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Andy Bell and Vince Clarke gave us songs that could fill a dancefloor in seconds. Forty years after Erasure’s debut album, the friendship behind that music has become a story worth hearing in its own right.

In a new interview with The Guardian, the pair reflect on supporting each other through grief. Clarke’s wife, Tracy Hurley Martin, died in January 2024. Bell had already experienced the loss of his own longtime partner, Paul Hickey, who died in 2012.

Clarke describes Bell’s support with gratitude, explaining that his friend understood the experience from a perspective few others could offer. For Bell, caring for Clarke was a natural part of the relationship they have built over decades.

They began Erasure in 1985, releasing Wonderland the following year. Their contrasting stage personalities became part of the appeal: Clarke behind the keyboards, Bell bringing exuberance, emotion and unapologetically gay visibility to the front.

For listeners who grew up with A Little Respect, Chains of Love and Sometimes, their songs hold memories of nights out, first romances and finding somewhere to belong. The men making them were building an enduring connection of their own.

That connection continues into Radio!! Radio!!, Erasure’s twentieth album, due on March 12, 2027. The band’s official announcement describes writing together again as an opportunity to lift an old friend’s spirits as well as make music.

The accompanying UK and European arena tour begins in April, with an important change. Clarke will remain musical director, creating and programming the music and helping plan the shows, but will work remotely rather than appear onstage beside Bell.

It is a different arrangement for the duo, and one they have chosen together. Clarke remains part of Erasure’s work and its next chapter.

Bell’s life away from performing brings another kind of companionship. He and his husband, Stephen Moss, live on Mallorca, where their harvest includes pomegranates, kiwis and lemons. An older interview also records Bell’s gratitude for Stephen’s help after losing Paul.

Marriage, friendship, music and ordinary days at home all have a place in this story. For two performers whose songs have accompanied so many people through life, it is moving to hear how much they have helped each other through their own.

📷 @officialandybell @erasureinfo

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Jake Shears turns 48 on October 3, with a birthday chapter that includes a Scissor Sisters reunion, a dream Broadway role and a relationship with fellow performer Jon Reynolds.

The singer is currently starring as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show at Studio 54.

He began performances September 11, succeeding Luke Evans.

For anyone who remembers Jake bringing theatrical queer energy to the pop charts, the casting feels wonderfully fitting. But the connection is more personal than that.

From teenage fan to Frank-N-Furter

In a Broadway.com interview published October 2, Shears recalls loving Rocky Horror since he was 13 and describes performing in it as a lifelong ambition.

There is a sweet family detail, too. His mother once barred him from seeing it when he was young. Now she is planning to attend an upcoming performance.

The teenager who wanted to experience that world has become one of the people bringing it to life.

Meet Jon Reynolds

Jake’s boyfriend, Jon Reynolds, has his own career in theatre. The actor and dancer’s credits include West End productions such as Sunset Boulevard, Back to the Future and The Devil Wears Prada.

At the end of 2024, Jake publicly introduced their relationship through a carousel of affectionate photographs. His caption described Jon as his favorite thing that happened that year.

B-Gay covered the announcement. The photographs offered a warm glimpse of the singer’s life beyond his performances.

Jon belongs in this birthday story as a person with his own work and presence—not simply a name added beside a famous singer.

The songs we grew up dancing to

Scissor Sisters emerged from New York’s early-2000s underground, blending club music, glam and theatricality with unmistakable queer confidence.

Their self-titled debut became the UK’s biggest-selling album of 2004, according to Official Charts. Songs including Take Your Mama and Filthy/Gorgeous helped bring that sensibility to audiences far beyond the clubs.

After more than a decade away, Shears, Babydaddy and Del Marquis reunited in 2025. Their return added another chapter to a musical history many listeners associate with nights out, friendships and the pleasure of finding their people.

A birthday worth celebrating

Shears made his Broadway debut in Kinky Boots in 2018. Now Frank-N-Furter brings him back to the stage in a musical that helped inspire him long before he became a star.

The production is The Rocky Horror Show, directed by Sam Pinkleton, rather than the film adaptation The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

A favorite show, a mother coming to watch, a band reunited and a boyfriend with his own theatrical life: there is plenty to celebrate at 48.

Happy birthday, Jake.

📷 Joan Marcus / The Rocky Horror Show; @jakeshears @jon_reynolds1

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