In a new interview with People, Jennifer Lopez admits that she feels “so lucky” to have gotten a second chance to be with Ben Affleck. As many fans can recall, the couple first split up in January 2004 after calling off their wedding a few months earlier. At the time, they released a joint statement that read, “Due to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we have decided to postpone the date,” per ABC News.
Fast forward 18 years later and Lopez and Affleck are still getting a lot of media attention, but this time it doesn’t seem to be bothering them as much. That’s because Lopez said that back then, she and Affleck were “naïve and … got a little trampled” over the media’s obsession with their relationship. Of this time, she said, “We’re older now, we’re smarter, we have more experience, we’re at different places in our lives, we have kids now, and we have to be very conscious of those things. We’re so protective because it is such a beautiful time for all of us.”
In other words, it sounds like the grown-up, mature version of Bennifer certainly beats out the blinged-out “Gigli” version of the past. This Jenny from the block ain’t fooled.
