As rumours swirl that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are rekindling their romance after two decades, many might be wondering why the A-list pair ever broke up in the first place.
The early noughties saw a frenzied swirl of interest in the romantic lives of 48-year-old Ben and 51-year-old Jen – with the duo being one of the major Hollywood couples of the time and routinely known as Bennifer, launching the use of portmanteaus for couples in pop-culture.
Despite getting engaged in November 2002, Ben and Jen never made it down the aisle together, and by January 2004, the romance was over after a whirlwind 18 months.
Reports at the time suggested the romance crumbled in part because of the intense media attention – which was blamed for their September 2003 wedding being cancelled three days before the event.
Explaining their rationale for cancelling the wedding, the pair said in a statement: "Due to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we have decided to postpone the date.
"When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate 'decoy brides' at three different locations, we realized that something was awry."
When the romance finally ceased in 2004, a spokesperson for Jennifer said: "Jennifer Lopez has ended her engagement to Ben Affleck. At this difficult time, we ask that you respect her privacy."
While Ben's spokesperson said: "I am not going to confirm anything about his personal life. We don’t want to get dragged into quicksand. Everybody wants a war. It’s not happening from our side."
Reflecting on his romance in 2008, Ben hinted that things moved too fast, and too publicly, for the romance to realistically last.
He said: "I think Jen and I made a mistake in that we fell in love, we were excited and maybe too accessible.
“I don't think either of us anticipated the degree to which it would take on a world of its own."
While Jen said in 2016: "We didn't try to have a public relationship.
"We just happened to be together at the birth of the tabloids, and it was like, 'Oh my God.' It was just a lot of pressure... I think different time different thing, who knows what could've happened, but there was a genuine love there."
Ben and Jen are now back in the spotlight following pop singer Jennifer’s sudden end to her engagement with 45-year-old sport star Alex Rodriguez.
Ben was spotted visiting Jen at one of her California homes earlier this month, and this week the duo jetted off to Montana for a getaway together – fuelling speculation the pair are falling for each other again.
