Ben & J.Lo A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE!
The former couple fuel rumours they’re back on
Jennifer Lopez has always hinted she’d be open to a reunion with ex-fiancé Ben Affleck. “I think different time, different thing, who knows what could’ve happened? But there was a genuine love there,” she confessed in 2016.
And with her engagement to Alex Rodriguez now officially over – thanks to his alleged cheating and other relationship issues – the rumours have already started that J.Lo could soon be turning to her famous ex for comfort.
“Jen’s priority is protecting her reputation and, right now, she’s between a rock and a hard place,” says our insider. “Alex’s supposed cheating was not a good look, but neither is ending an engagement after three failed marriages.”
STILL CLOSE
However, knowing that newly single Ben was waiting in the wings for another chance with Jen – 17 years after their split – was the push she needed to move on.
Last month, when it was reported she and A-Rod had ended their engagement, the singer insisted they were still “working through some things”. But last week, she finally pulled the plug, announcing, “We have realised we’re better as friends.” Our source adds, “The second she hit the kill switch with Alex, she already had the perfect suitor lined up – and who’s better than Ben? They are still very close and they’ve both admitted they were each other’s one that got away.” Indeed, Ben has always spoken highly of his former fiancé, revealing that the pair – affectionately dubbed “Bennifer” during their highly public romance – are still in contact after all these years.
“She’s the real thing,” the 48-year-old actor admitted in January. “I keep in touch periodically with her and have a lot of respect for her. How awesome is it that she had her biggest hit movie at 50?”
FLIRTY EXCHANGE
More recently, Ben also gushed about Jen, 51, in InStyle mag, for which she posed without her multimillion-dollar engagement ring from Alex. What’s more, the former baseballer, 45, was noticeably absent from the interview.
“Where are you keeping the fountain of youth? Why do you look the same as you did in 2003 and it kind of looks like I’m in my 40s at best?” Ben asked the magazine about his ex, whom he split from in 2004 after two years together.
And Jen had quite the flirty response back: “Ben is funny! He still looks pretty good too.”
Fans are certainly in favour of the re-coupling, with one asking online, “A reunion on the cards now they’re both free?” And our insider says the timing is right to try again, with Ben still single since his split from Ana de Armas in January.
“Ben and Jen never really weren’t in touch, but they kept it to a minimum out of respect for their partners,” says the source. “Now he’s single and she is too, there are no limits on them any more.”
‘They have admitted they’re each other’s one that got away’