Today, 55-year-old Jennifer Lopez opened up about her personal journey after her split from 52-year-old Hollywood actor Ben Affleck. Behind her are only two years of marriage and a second attempt to reconcile after their previous breakup in 2004. On August 20, she filed for divorce, though the couple had already separated in April.
Jennifer admitted that she is learning to be on her own now that she’s returned to being single. “You have to be healthy. You have to be whole if you want something better. You have to be good on your own. I thought I had learned that, but I hadn’t. Then, this summer, I had to say, ‘I need to go and be independent. I want to prove to myself that I can do it,'” the singer shared.
Lopez does not regret her decision. “Not for a second. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t almost lose my life,” she admitted. She emphasized that she is not interested in dating anyone at the moment. She emotionally described the breakup with Ben as “insanely difficult” and sad, confessing that she felt “lonely, out of place, and scared,” but has learned a lifelong lesson from the experience.
“I now understand it much more deeply, which doesn’t mean I won’t make mistakes in the future… The work is about figuring yourself out. It’s about exploring the feelings and belief systems we have about ourselves that drive us to make certain choices and create patterns in our lives.”
Jennifer also noted that this is the first time she’s spoken about this, adding: “You know what? For people who are romantics, who love relationships and want to grow old with someone, we think, ‘I need to have that to be complete and happy.’ But that’s not true.”
As for the negative comments regarding her divorce, she said she can handle them, although she’s “not made of steel” and sometimes they can hurt. Interestingly, this public pressure might be the reason behind Ben Affleck’s change in appearance. Recently, her ex was spotted with a new beard.
For some of the couple’s friends, this ending came as a shock. Director, actor, and producer Kevin Smith admitted he still can’t believe that Ben and his beloved are separating. Meanwhile, some of Lopez’s close ones speculated that the singer might have had issues with alcohol, though she didn’t mention this in her interview.