Jennifer Lopez is a lady in love and she isn’t holding back.
The singer-actress spoke to People about reigniting her affair with Hollywood star Ben Affleck, calling their reunion a “beautiful love story” that got a second chance.
Lopez, 52, is currently in the midst of promoting her new rom-com ‘Marry Me’, which comes out in the UAE on February 11, just ahead of Valentine’s Day weekend. Yet, the glow she’s been carrying around appears to be largely credited to Affleck’s re-appearance in her life after the couple called off their engagement in 2004 after three years of dating.
Lopez admitted to harbouring fears when they decided to reunite 17 years later, but the ‘Jenny From the Block’ hitmaker acknowledged that the media circus around them all those years ago didn’t help either. “Before we kind of put [our relationship] out there and we were naive and it got a little trampled,” she said.
This time, though, the couple are playing it smart. “We both were like, ‘Wow, we’re so happy and we don’t want any of that to come into play again.’ We’re older now, we’re smarter, we have more experience, we’re at different places in our lives, we have kids now, and we have to be very conscious of those things. We’re so protective because it is such a beautiful time for all of us,” Lopez continued, adding: “I feel so lucky and happy and proud to be with him… I want to do everything I can to protect that and keep it safe. It deserves that, it really does. ... We hold it sacred.”
Taking a second chance with Affleck meant having her 13-year-old twins Max and Emme bond with a man who she once chose not to marry. However, Lopez looked at it differently. “When you find somebody and you really, really love them and you get a second chance at that? That is a really rare, precious, beautiful thing and we don’t take it for granted.
“I honestly believe that love rules all. Love always conquers everything — relationships, kids, work, work relationships. It’s all about how loving, open and accepting you can be. Not having an ego about things and just embracing all the good, always looking at the positive.”
Affleck’s history with substance abuse and his repeated stints in rehab have been tabloid fodder for years, but Lopez said the 49-year-old has put in the emotional work this time around. “I’m so proud of the him, I’m so proud of the man he’s become that I’ve watched from afar. Being honest with each other, being loving, that’s just the basis of everything,” she said. “I feel like he’s at a place in his life where — just like how I feel about myself — it’s been a journey of learning yourself and figuring yourself out, getting to a place where you feel really good on your own and who you are so you can be in a happy, healthy relationship.”
She added: “To see the person, the human being, the man that he is today, the father that he is today, the partner that he is — he is so everything I always knew he was and wanted to be.”
The space Lopez appears to be in now coincides with the character she plays on ‘Marry Me’, which is that of a world famous pop star who marries a stranger (Owen Wilson) after her fiancé (Maluma) is caught cheating, but finds love again when taking a second chance.
