Jennifer Lopez has described ending her first engagement to Ben Affleck as the “biggest heartbreak” of her life.
The superstar entertainer and the actor/director started dating in mid-2002 after meeting on the set of the film Gigli and got engaged a few months later. But following media and public attention, Ben and Jennifer made the call to break up in September 2003, just days before they were due to wed.
Reflecting on the split during an interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, the On the Floor hitmaker admitted that ending her relationship with Ben was “so painful”.
“Once we called off that wedding 20 years ago, it was the biggest heartbreak of my life,” she said. “I honestly felt like I was going to die. It sent me on a spiral for the next 18 years where I just couldn’t get it right.”
Jennifer and Ben reconnected in April 2021, and after a year of dating, tied the knot in Las Vegas in July.
And the Hustlers actress is excited to be able to open up about her love story on upcoming album This Is Me… Now – the sequel to her 2002 record, This Is Me…Then.
“But now, 20 years later, it does have a happy ending. It has the most would-never-happen-in-Hollywood ending,” the 53-year-old continued.
“It’s funny because when me and Ben got back together, he was like, ‘You never performed the songs. You never did (2002 track) I’m Glad. You never did this. You never did that.’ I was like, ‘You’re right. It was painful.’ It was a part of me then that I had to put away to move on and survive. It was a survival tactic, for sure.”
This Is Me… Now is set to be released next year.