Jennifer Lopez feels “so lucky and proud” to be getting a second chance with boyfriend Ben Affleck.
The “Hustlers” star gushed about reuniting with her ex-fiancé in a new cover story for People, calling their do-over a blessing.
“I feel so lucky and happy and proud to be with him,” she told the magazine, which noted that the room in Lopez’s house where they conducted the interview now serves as Affleck’s office when he visits.
“It’s a beautiful love story that we got a second chance.”
Lopez, 52, admitted that going through the media circus that was their first relationship — and subsequent breakup — has them far more prepared for how to handle life in the public eye this time.
“We both were like, ‘Wow, we’re so happy and we don’t want any of that to come into play again.’ We’re older now, we’re smarter, we have more experience,” she explained. “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.”
The “Marry Me” star said she wants to “do everything I can to protect her “happy and loving” relationship with Affleck, 49, because they both hold it “sacred.”
“It deserves that, it really does,” she shared.
Although reigniting an old romance may feel familiar, the “Play” songstress said Bennifer 2.0 is an entirely different chapter.
“It’s beautiful the way it feels very different than it was years ago. … There’s more of an appreciation and a celebration for it, which is nice,” she shared. “When you find somebody and you really, really love them and you get a second chance at that? That is a really rare, precious, beautiful thing, and we don’t take it for granted.”
Lopez, who reunited with Affleck last year after her breakup with ex-fiancé Alex Rodriguez, acknowledged that blending families — she has twins with ex-husband Marc Anthony and Affleck shares three children with ex-wife Jennifer Garner — can be difficult, though she said their “love” made it easy.
“I honestly believe that love rules all. Love always conquers everything — relationships, kids, work, work relationships,” she shared. “It’s all about how loving, open and accepting you can be. Not having an ego about things and just embracing all the good, always looking at the positive.
“When you’re in a good, healthy relationship, everybody benefits from that. Everybody.”
The “Selena” star also praised Affleck for his sobriety and becoming the man she always knew he could be.
“To see the person, the human being, the man that he is today, the father that he is today, the partner that he is — he is so everything I always knew he was and wanted to be,” she said.