BREAKING NEWS: Jonathan Bennett Reveals His Favorite New Year’s Eve Moment in NYC and a Confetti Secret .giang

Jonathan Bennett is saying goodbye to 2024 and hello to 2025!

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the actor, 43, opens up about his favorite part of celebrating New Year’s Eve in New York City — a little-known fact about the confetti.

“Every New Year’s Eve, when that confetti showers all the revelers, those are actually people’s wishes,” says Bennett, who is returning to host the Times Square ball drop on Dec. 31, and exclusively documenting a BTS look at the gig on his Snapchat.

“You’re standing there, and you’re being showered in so many people’s wishes for the new year,” he continues. “There’s something just really special about that, and that’s what I love so much about New Year’s Eve in Times Square.”

“A new year is a symbol for a new beginning, and [the confetti] is a symbol, a literal physical symbol, of everyone’s wishes for the new year. I think we always have wishes of hope, we have wishes of better days ahead, a better life, there’s so many wishes that people have for the new year, so to have them just showered on top of you is just so special,” adds the Finding Mr. Christmas host and co-creator.

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According to Bennett, the Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment, who “put on the ball drop,” play a big role in making sure each and every wish makes its way onto a piece of confetti, whether they are submitted through the “Wishing Wall” in Times Square or on the location’s official website.

“They are so adamant about using real wishes and making sure that every wish that gets in that box makes it to the drop,” he says.

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Looking back at a moment when he turned to Countdown Entertainment President Jeffrey A. Straus “when one of the wishes almost blew away,” Bennett recalls, “I was like, ‘Oh, we almost lost that one, and Jeff goes, ‘Get it back in the box,’ and I looked at him, and he goes, ‘That’s someone’s wish.’ “

“It’s like Santa Claus; they take this seriously,” adds the Mean Girls alum. “This is important to people, so if you write your wish down, it’ll make it to the drop. I think that’s what makes Times Square and New Year’s Eve so special.”

Bennett is marking another year as host of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration event, which can be livestreamed online. The program will feature musical performances by Carrie Underwood, the Jonas Brothers, TLC, Rita Ora and more, while Mickey Guyton will sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” just ahead of the ball drop at midnight.

“This is my eighth year coming to the main stage as your ringmaster for the evening,” Bennett tells PEOPLE. “It is the best show on earth, it is the center of the universe, and there’s something almost magical about getting to host year after year, because no matter how many times I do it, that moment that you’re standing on your mark on the center stage of the stage that’s in the center of the universe, it’s just like an adrenaline rush you can’t explain.”

“There’s nothing bigger or better than that moment, and it’s just such an honor to get to do it and have that bucket list moment,” he continues.

On his official Snapchat account, Bennett will “be going live” to “show all the behind-the-scenes things that you don’t get to see on the live broadcast.”

“It’s going to be a great night, when everyone can watch the broadcast and then follow along at the same time on my Snapchat to see all the in-between stuff,” he adds. “We’ve never done anything like this before, where I’m showing all the behind-the-scenes of the biggest night of the year live. So this is a groundbreaking thing, I’d say.”