Jennifer Lopez has confessed she and Ben Affleck are still dealing with the rubble from their first relationship.
After separating in 2004, the Hustlers star and the Gone Girl lead found their way back to each other in 2021. Now, Lopez is opening up about how their time together, from when they started dating in 2002 to when they called off their engagement, still affects them today.
Speaking to Variety, the 54-year-old music icon candidly admitted how both she and Affleck, 51, “have PTSD” from their early romance that ended abruptly. “But we’re older now,” Lopez shared on 20 December. “We’re wiser. We also know what’s important, what’s really important in life, and it’s not so much what other people think. It’s about being true to who you are.”
For the fans who would love to see the Marry Me actor and Hypnotic star on the big screen together again, Lopez provided some hope. “We love being together and working together,” she remarked. “So, yeah, you never know.”
Lopez and Affleck were introduced 21 years ago on the set of their first movie together, Gigli. At the time, Lopez was married to Cris Judd but she filed for divorce that year. Their split was finalised in 2003, but by then Lopez and Affleck were already engaged.
In 2003, the Hollywood couple released another film together, Jersey Girl. However, though their connection seemed perfect on-screen, their real-life relationship was on thin ice. Days ahead of their planned nuptials, the couple reportedly ended things.
Prior to her rekindled romance with Affleck, the “On The Floor” vocalist reflected on the factors that led to her devastating break-up. During the 2016 interview, she blamed the attention from tabloids in part. “I think different time, different thing, who knows what could’ve happened, but there was a genuine love there,” she told People.
In April 2021 - one month after Lopez called off her two-year engagement with former Yankees star Alex Rodriguez - Affleck and Lopez were spotted in the same SUV. By May, reports had circulated that the pair were hanging out before they were seen on vacation in Big Sky, Montana. “Jen and Ben are both very happy with each [other] and are excited to see where the relationship goes,” an insider told Us Weekly later that month. “They are full-on dating and very happy together.”
About a year later, intending to make things different this time around, Lopez admitted she had been trying to keep this new era of their relationship as private as possible.
“I think what we learned from the last time is that love, when you are lucky enough to find it, is so sacred and special and you have to hold a little bit of that privately and that’s what we’ve learned,” she told Today. “But we’re very happy, if that’s what you wondering about.”
The pair eloped in Las Vegas in July 2022 before hosting an intimate second ceremony at Affleck’s Georgia home.
