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Although Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were broken up for 17 years, their second attempt at a relationship seemed to start up rather quickly. After so long apart, and each of them with a few kids in tow, the two got engaged almost one year into their rekindled romance.
It seemed fast to most outsiders, especially because Jennifer was fresh out of a long-term relationship, and Ben had recently been seen canoodling with his film co-star Ana de Armas.
So, the question on many fans' minds, even now, is whether Ben unceremoniously dumped Ana upon finding out that his long-ago love was single and apparently ready to mingle. Did Ben Affleck break up with Ana de Armas to get back together with J-Lo? With the recent news of the pair's engagement (18 years after their "failed" first run) turning heads, let's take a look at the drama leading up to it.
Ana De Armas And Ben Affleck Broke Up In January 2021
Though Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas were spotted jet-setting and even hanging out with his kids together, their relationship wasn't quite serious serious when news of their split emerged. Some fans even wanted to break them up on purpose, but it seems the fire fizzled out for the pair sometime in January 2021.
According to Cosmopolitan, Ben and Ana broke up at roughly the ten-month mark, after their film Deep Water was over and done with, too. But there's some suggestion that the pair had a Mr & Mrs Smith type connection on set; though they never appeared too cozy while working on the movie, they did play a couple on screen, Cosmo points out.
It seemed like the two were totally in love, especially when they appeared on the beach, with Ben taking terrible (blurry) photos of Ana while they dipped their toes in the surf.
But while TMZ was razzing them for their syrupy sweet frolic in the sand, is it possible the relationship was already internally combusting? Sure, Ana met Ben's kids less than a month into their relationship, and they went a bit wild with traveling together during those short ten months, but it seemed to drop off after the two allegedly had some deep convos about having kids together.
The verdict? Ben apparently didn't want more kids, and Ana wanted babies with him. At least, that's what 'sources' said.
It could be true, though; other sources say that Ben and Jen don't want kids together, either. Together, they have a total of five, and maybe that's enough for the pair.
Jennifer Lopez And A-Rod Split Around March
While fans have had plenty of suspicions about Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez's split, People states that Jennifer is the one who did the dumping, not A-Rod. Whatever the reason for the demise of the relationship, it couldn't have been easy for either of them following the split.
Both had kids invested in the relationship, and of course, both have had public breakups in the past. The two were also engaged, not just dating, which meant the potential for plenty of drama.
The thing is, their breakup was super quiet, to the point where no one picked up on it for at least a few weeks; the first sign was a lack of social media posts featuring one another. Though the "news" broke around March that the two had likely split, they didn't publicly confirm it until the following month. Instead, their March statement suggested they were working on their relationship.
In the months afterward, Jennifer refrained from speaking negatively about her now-ex in the media, but it's clear she's completely smitten with Ben. Maybe the best way to mend a broken heart really is to simply move on quickly!
Bennifer Went Public (Again) In April 2021
Relationship timelines are a tricky thing; who knows who was chatting up whom behind the scenes, but keeping it oh-so-quiet to avoid tabloid drama? Though it does seem like Ben and Jen started things up quickly after all that time apart, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that Ben broke Ana's heart to chase his former flame.'
In fact, it seems that Ben didn't actually reach out to Jen until after news broke that she had split from A-Rod. Sources say the two got back together after Ben offered Jennifer a shoulder to cry on. While it's also suggested that he knew exactly the move he was making at the time, clearly, Jennifer was into it.
Now, all that's left is for the two to finally make it to the altar together; and 20 years after their first meeting, it's about time!