The pair initially ended their engagement in 2004 and rekindled their romance in 2021.
Jennifer Lopez has decades of romantic experience between now and the first time she was in a relationship with Ben Affleck. The couple first began dating in 2002, and ended their relationship, thus calling off their engagement, in 2004. Now, the pair are back together, and have a new appreciation and awareness of how to handle love in the spotlight.
In a profile for The New York Times, 52-year-old Lopez opens up about her and Affleck's romance, saying, "We learned our lesson the first time. To hold it sacred."
"You have to do what feels good to you all the time. But at the same time, you learn from the past, you do things better the second time," Lopez explains. "There’s a part of it that, yes, we’re together. But there’s a part of it that’s not, you know, being so open the way we were when we were so young and in love many years ago."
Affleck, 49, mirrored the sentiment in a December 2021 profile with WSJ. Magazine, sharing, "You can write conjecture about it, but one of the harder lessons that I have learned is that it’s not wise to share everything with the world. There are some things which are private and intimate and have meaning in terms of their intimacy by dint of the fact that they’re not shared with the rest of the world."
As for Lopez's very public romance and engagement to Alex Rodriguez, which ended shortly before she rekindled things with Affleck, she doesn't regret that period in her life either.
“When you’re in things, you do what feels right. And I don’t beat myself up over ‘I wish I had done this differently’ or ‘Did I do too much?’” she tells the Times. "That’s what was comfortable at the time. I did what I did. He did what he did. And it was fine. The relationship stuff had nothing to do with being public or not being public.”
New York Times' Nicole Sperling notes in her profile piece that Affleck, who declined to be interviewed, pops in during their interview to speak with Lopez privately, giving her a kiss before leaving. Sperling also describes the couple's joint gingerbread house for the holidays, which reads in icing "Affleck Lopez Family."
Lopez pulls out all the stops for her photo shoot with the Times. On Tuesday, she shared behind-the-scenes images to her Instagram Stories of a sexy look from the shoot.
One particular outfit showed off the performer's fit physique, featuring her in a black bralet top and a low-hanging black skirt that drew attention to her thong.
For more on Lopez and Affleck's romance, check out the video below.
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