Jennifer Lopez finally reveals reason for first Ben Affleck break-up 3 days before their wedding
Topics: Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: AppleMusic
Topics: Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Jennifer Lopez has spilt the beans on why she and Ben Affleck split up the first time around.
J.Lo and Ben shocked everyone when they called off their wedding just days before it was set to take place in 2003. The pair first dated in 2002 and announced their engagement that year, but split up beforehand.
Lopez went on to have two children with third husband, Marc Anthony, before having a relationship with baseball player Alex Rodriguez. After becoming engaged to Rodriguez in 2019, their wedding was postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the duo announced in April 2021 that they had called time on the relationship.
Meanwhile, Affleck was married to actor Jennifer Garner from 2005 to 2018, during which time they had three children - daughters Violet and Seraphina and son Samuel.
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After J.Lo and Ben called time on their initial engagement, many fans wondered why.
Speaking in an interview with DJ Zane Lowe on Apple Music last year, Jen explained what happened before their first wedding.
Zane asked: "For you to break up three days before the wedding... the pressure that was piled upon you caused the wedding to be called off.
"But I never really understood, there's a difference between calling off a wedding... you broke up, you didn't just call the wedding off, you called the whole thing off?"
J.Lo explained that the pair didn't break up immediately, but their split happened gradually over a couple of months.
She explained: "What it did was it casted doubt in me and both of us about what our relationship was and where it was going I think.
"I knew in my heart that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life, but it didn't feel like we were going to make it, so it scared me.
"It was very hard, it was a very sad moment of letting go of someone you really love because you just can't figure it out, you just don't have the capacity and ability emotionally to figure it out, we just weren't mature enough in that way.
"... We weren't ready to deal with and look at each other and go 'what we have is real, we need to buckle down, do some work' we just weren't there yet."
Jennifer and Ben later reunited in 2021, almost two decades later, and rekindled their relationship. They tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2022, followed by a second ceremony in Georgia.
It didn't last long as Jen officially filed for divorce on their second wedding anniversary, with court papers revealing they had already split in April 2023.
A few months ago, the singer spoke about her divorce when reflecting on a 'tough' period in her life, while Affleck also said how 'embarrassed' he felt by the whole ordeal.