“Mean Girls” star Jonathan Bennett went down memory lane with Kathie Lee Gifford.
On Jan. 2, Bennett posted a side-by-side re-creation of one of Kathie Lee’s classic Carnival Cruise Line commercials from the 1980s on TikTok.
“My tribute to the most iconic commercial of all time. Kathie Lee you are a legend!” Bennett captioned the clip.
@jonathandbennett My tribute to the most iconic commercial of all time. Kathie Lee you are a legend! @carnival ♬ original sound - Jonathan Bennett
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
In the video, Bennett, like Kathie Lee, is having the time of his life while he sings the same song Kathie Lee did. All the while, he wears similar outfits to Kathie Lee, as he dances, goes down a slide, boasts about the food, busts a move in front of some showgirls, lies on a beach and stands on a boat deck with other passengers.
“POV: you recreate the iconic 1980’s Kathie Lee Carnival Commercial,” he wrote.
Kathie Lee herself gave her seal of approval to Bennett’s faux commercial.
Entertainment News
“So fun to relive those musical memories of 20 years of working for Carnival Cruise Lines and making their iconic commercials,” she wrote on her Instagram while posting the video on Jan. 2.
“I suppose imitation is the best form of flattery, so thank you @jonathandbennett," she continued. "Although, I do look a whole lot better than you do in a bikini ! Happy cruising this season, and make sure you cruise @carnival!”
For his part, Bennett was thrilled to pay homage to Kathie Lee.
“You are an icon!” he wrote in the comments. “Your commercials brought me so much joy, I still know every word to all of them, and getting to recreate them was an honor. You will always be the best to ever do it, but it was FUN getting to play!”
In 2015, while co-hosting the fourth hour with Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee said that she began working with Carnival in 1984 and remained until 2004.
“You could still find my stuff on those cruises, too!” she joked on the episode of TODAY with Kathie Lee & Hoda.
During Kathie Lee’s last episode of the show in 2019, she said she’d “had an incredible relationship with Carnival Cruise Lines for over 30 years.” She also gave away a free four-day cruise for two on Carnival Cruise Line to everyone in the audience, after she revealed that her son, Cody, was conceived on one of their ships.
“As a matter of fact, this guy, this big 6-foot-4 guy, was made on a Carnival Cruise,” she said to her son, who was there for her final show.
“That’s good advertising,” Cody joked.
This article originally appeared on TODAY.com. Read more from TODAY:
