JLo just treated fans to the ultimate Bennifer throwback video
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Recently we've been feeling some real noughties nostalgia at the news the Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are back together after almost two decades apart. That's right, time machines do exist, Bennifer is back.
Jen and Ben were the couple back in the early noughties and we were all devastated when their relationship ended in 2004. Over the years they both moved on with other people and it looked as though there would be no chance of a reconciliation. But somewhere, somehow it looks as though these two might just be back together 20 years on.
Here's a detailed look back at their relationship history, from meeting on the set of Gigli to calling off their wedding with just a few days notice, starting with the most recent update:
8 May 2022:
Although Mother's Day has been and gone here in the UK, over in the US it's celebrated in May, and J Lo marked the special occasion in the sweetest way – by sharing the ultimate throwback video of her and Ben at a basketball game in LA's Staples Center.
When they camera comes in their direction, the giddy couple use the opportunity to give their mums a shout out, with Ben saying, "Happy Mother's Day!" before Jennifer adds, "Happy Mother's Day, mommy! I love you!". The commentator then chimes in with "Hollywood's hottest couple, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez!".
Mad how some things just, err, never change then?
Here's the rest of J Lo and Ben's relationship timeline...
2001: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck meet during filming for Gigli, a film that would come out two years later to a not-so successful reception, scoring a rare 2.5 on IMDb. But as least something happy came out of it, with Jen and Ben clearly striking up connection, although we don't know when exactly they got together.
At the time of filming Jen was still married to her second husband Cris Judd but they divorced in 2002 at which point Ben and Jen officially went public with their relationship.
2002: People went completely wild when Jen released the video for her new single 'Jenny from the Block' and it featured some pretty heavy PDA from the couple. The song references the media obsession with their relationship and shows clips of them kissing along with some staged paparazzi footage of the pair sunbathing on a yacht while Ben strokes Jen's bum. It was pretty scandalous news at the time.
November 2002: During an interview with Diane Sawyer in November 2002 Jen revealed that she and Ben were engaged and debuted a huge 6.1-carat pink diamond ring from Harry Winston which reportedly cost Affleck a cool £1.8 million.
July 2003: This was the period that gave us one of the most iconic Bennifer pictures going. At the premier for Gigli in July 2003 (you'll recognise the outfits) Ben and Jennifer walked the red carpet together doing lots of PDA and generally looking very affectionate towards each other. However, in one now very famous moment, Ben looked away just as the pair kissed, earning this series of photos a place in pop culture history as the 'Ben Affleck wandering eye pictures'.
September 2003: After being engaged for almost a year the couple call off their wedding just a few days before it was due to go ahead, citing the overwhelming press attention as the reason for the postponement.
"Due to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we have decided to postpone the date," the couple said in a joint statement. "When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate 'decoy brides' at three different locations, we realised that something was awry. We began to feel that the spirit of what should have been the happiest day of our lives could be compromised. We felt what should have been a joyful and sacred day could be spoiled for us, our families and our friends."
January 2004: Just a few months after calling off their wedding Ben and Jen call time on their relationship. Although we aren't given a reason for the split a spokesperson for Jen officially confirms the news in a statement to MTV.
"I am confirming the report that Jennifer Lopez has ended her engagement to Ben Affleck," the statement said. "At this difficult time, we ask that you respect her privacy."
March 2004: Just two months after the split is announced, the former couple's new film Jersey Girl is released. The project was filmed back in 2003 and was slated for release that same year, but was unfortunately pushed back to early 2004 making for quite bad timing.
Even more awkwardly the film, which follows a man (Affleck) trying to rebuild his life after the death of his wife (Lopez), was not a huge success at the box office.
June 2004: In June of that same year Jen married longtime friend Marc Anthony in a move that surprised fans. Four years later in 2008 the pair welcomed twins Emme Maribel Muñiz and Maximilian David Muñiz.
2005: Around the time Jen and Marc got together Ben started dating Pearl Harbor co-star Jennifer Garner and the pair tied the knot in a private ceremony in June 2005. They went on to have three children together, Violet, Seraphina and Samuel.
2011: After seven years together Jen and Marc Anthony announced their separation in July 2011. He filed for divorce in 2012 and the divorce was finalised in 2014. In her 2014 book True Love, Jen detailed how moving on with Marc was "a Band-aid on the cut" left by her split from Ben Affleck.
"Ben and I split up at the moment when I thought we were committing to each other forever, it was my first real heartbreak, it felt like my heart had been torn out of my chest... I sought out comfort in another person, tried to find someone who could make me feel loved and wanted in my loneliest hour.
"Marc came back into my life three days after I should have been at the altar saying ‘I do’ to another man... Thinking back, maybe deep down I knew that this was a Band-Aid on the cut, that my wound hadn’t been stitched or healed. But I pushed all that to the back of my mind. Because life takes unpredictable twists and turns, right? And you’ve just got to go with what you feel is best in the moment."
June 2015: Ben and Jennifer Garner announce their separation in 2015, with their divorce being finalised in October 2018.
March 2017: Jen goes public with her new relationship with Alex Rodriguez. A source close to Lopez tells People: "They have been dating for a few weeks. She seems excited. He has been around her family and she really likes that he is a dad. She is aware, though, that he is a ladies' man and is being cautious. For now, it's just fun."
This 'ladies man' reputation comes from Rodriguez's rumoured high-profile relationships, before Jenny from the Block, including Kate Hudson, Cameron Diaz and Madonna.
2021: Just a few months after Ben splits from Ana de Armas after a year together, A-Rod and Jen break up, calling off their engagement and announcing the news in a joint statement in which the state they are "better as friends."
May 2021: After 17 years apart Jen and Ben are spotted returning from a skiing holiday in Montana together. The pair were photographed in a car together after landing back in LA, by the Daily Mail, who write that they spent some private time together at a resort in Montana where Ben is believed to own a chalet ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, and their three children, Violet, Seraphina and Samuel).
25 May 2021: Reconciliation rumours between Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have been swirling for a couple of weeks, when he's spotted wearing a watch she gave him in 2002.
After Jen and Ben were seen on a skiing holiday in early May, he's later photographed wearing the same watch Lopez famously bought for him in music video, 'Jenny From the Block.'
Affleck wore the watch all the time back in the day, and seems to have resurrected it almost two decades later, thanks to new pap pics. This is almost too nostalgic for words.
15th June 2021:
Well, I guess things don't get much more official than this. Just a few weeks after the reconciliation rumours began Jen and Ben were spotted sharing a steamy kiss, and the whole thing was caught on video.
During dinner with her kids at Nobu in Malibu the pair were spotted sharing quite the PDA; kissing and cuddling, with Ben even whispering in Jennifer's ear at one point. Sure, we don't want to jump to conclusions but, the video and accompanying pictures - which were published by Page Six - seem to be fairly good confirmation that Bennifer is officially back.
July 2021: HUGE, absolutely ginormous developments in Jen and Ben's rekindled romance, not only did the pair go in for an Instagram PDA of Kourtney & Travis proportions (therefore confirming the relationship), but, they also recreated their infamous bum-grab yacht pics from her "Jenny From the Block" music video. Things are getting spicy!
We've quite literally been transported back two decades by the recent steamy pap pics of Jen and Ben sunbathing on a yacht together in St Tropez. The couple recently set off on their Mediterranean voyage to celebrate her 52nd birthday, and in pictures published by TMZ it looks like they're throwing it right back to 2002, by recreating the iconic yacht pictures that were so scandalous at the time.
And if all that wasn't enough the pair took their relationship Instagram official that same day. She shared a series of pictures on Instagram ending with one very steamy PDA pic, along with the caption, "… what it do …💗 📸:."
September 2021: It's just like old times! Ben and Jen treated us to *all* the PDAs as they made their first red carpet appearance as a couple (since getting back together, that is) at Venice Film Festival. Attending the screening for Ben's new film The Last Duel, the pair seemed to have reclaimed their status as Hollywood's golden couple, with Jennifer wearing a white plunge dress by Georges Hobeika, and plenty of Cartier jewellery. I mean, they literally haven't aged a day?
April 2022: We're having a major déjà vu moment: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are engaged! Yep, you read that right, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have plans to marry - 19 years after calling off their wedding just days before the ceremony in 2003.
Jennifer teased the news on her Twitter and Instagram with an *emosh* clip where she says she has a "very exciting and special story to share" alongside the caption "Major announcement!!!!" before directing followers to sign up to her newsletter via OnTheJLo.com to get access to the news.
The announcement waiting for fans came in the form of video of Jennifer gazing down lovingly at an engagement ring (which looks stunning, btw) and crying tears of joy. Hand me the tissues! Since then, she's added a diamond ring to her Twitter handle and the news has been confirmed to People. We're so happy for these two.
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