Remembering preBenJen couples

Before there was Jen and Ben, well, there was Ben and Jen.

Mere months before Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner got together in 2004, Affleck was still famously dating singer-actress Jennifer Lopez. They were even ready for a fairytale wedding.

Just as Garner and Affleck would cross paths on the set of a film, so did Affleck and Lopez. The pair met while filming Gigli in 2002, but that was just the beginning. Shortly after, Affleck was in Lopez’s music video, getting a bit too handsy in Jenny from the Block. The point was: they were together and proud of it.

Lopez and Affleck became known only as Bennifer in the media, a supercouple if there ever was one. They got engaged in 2002 — a massive 6.1 carat pink diamond ring comes to mind — and set a wedding date for the following year. Alas, things began to crumble and “excessive media attention” caused them to postpone the big day. When Affleck called the relationship off for good, Lopez was crushed. Despite having been married twice before, she called it her “first big heartbreak”.

“It felt like my heart had been torn out of my chest,” she wrote in a memoir.

Later, Ben admitted that the public’s interest in their relationship had taken its toll.

“I think Jen and I made a mistake in that we fell in love, we were excited and maybe too accessible,” he said. “I don’t think either of us anticipated the degree to which it would take on a world of its own.”

Funnily enough, Bennifer wasn’t Affleck’s first foray into celebrity romance. Prior to dating Lopez, he dated another star in the industry — actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

The two began their relationship in 1997 and went on to star in Shakespeare

together the following year. They were on and off, working together on in 2000 before finally calling it quits.

“He’s super intelligent, and really, really talented... But he wasn’t in a good place in his life to have a girlfriend,” said Paltrow.

Garner’s previous relationships were less prone to media scrutiny. She married actor Scott Foley in 2000, after meeting him on the set of his television series, They divorced in 2004, citing “irreconcilable differences”.

Garner Foley and

in 2002.

and Paltrow

in 2000. Affleck

Affleck Lopez and

in 2003.