Following the news of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's rumoured reconciliation, it seems as if J.Lo's former fiancée, Alex Rodriguez, is less than impressed.
As he was headed into a restaurant in Miami, A-Rod was asked by Page Six how he felt about their recent getaway to Montana. "Go Yankees," he responded. It seems innocent enough – or was it?
Well, Rodriguez famously played for the New York Yankees — a major rival to Affleck's favourite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox. In fact, the actor, who was engaged to Lopez for two years back in the noughties, is so devoted to the team that he once refused to wear a Yankees hat when starring in Gone Girl.
This comes after sources claim that the former professional baseball shortstop was "shocked" by Lopez and Affleck's reunion — hoping he would "be able to make it work and reconnect".
Lopez, 51, and Rodriguez, 45, first started dating in February of 2017, and announced their engagement two years later. But in April of this year, they called it quits. So where did it all start going wrong? We have the lowdown...
March 2018 — J.Lo says that she's in no rush to get married
After previously speaking to Entertainment Tonight about how she is "so happy" with Rodriguez, in March of 2018, J.Lo insisted that she is in no rush to get married again (she has tied the knot three times previously).
"I do believe in marriage, and I would love to grow old with somebody in a committed relationship. But I'm not forcing anything right now," she tells Harper's Bazaar. "It's good, it's healthy; we communicate well. We understand each other's lives in a way that most other people couldn't."
At this point, she and Rodriguez had been dating for over a year.
March 2019 — A-Rod is accused of cheating
Just one day after they took to Instagram to announce their engagement, former Yankees baseball player Jose Canseco accused Rodriguez of cheating on Lopez with his ex-wife in a series of tweets on March 10th 2019.
"Watching World of Dance watching J.Lo text Alex Rodriguez little does she know that he is cheating on her with my ex-wife Jessica poor girl she has no idea who he really is," he wrote. "I was there a few months back with her when he called her on her phone."
He added: "Alex Rodriguez stop being a piece of shit stop cheating on Jennifer Lopez."
While Lopez and Rodriguez didn't issue any comment on the allegations, Canesco's ex-wife took to Twitter to set the record straight.
"Those false accusations Jose is making are not tru!! I have known Alex for many years and haven’t even seen him for over 5. I certainly did not sleep with him. I am friendly with both him and Jennifer. As for Jose he can keep playing with his Alien friends," she wrote, adding that the last time she was out with Rodriguez, her boyfriend was also there, and they went out to dinner together.
May 2019 — J.Lo says she's in no rush to marry, again
The Jenny from the Block singer again stressed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that while wedding planning was "going good", she was planning on taking it easy.
"I think we have a pretty busy year ahead of us, so you know, we are [taking it slow]," she said. "There's no rush. We really see this as something that's gonna be forever, and we're gonna just take our time and do it right. And do it not rushed."
September 2019 — 'Busy schedules' delay the nuptials
In another interview with the Evening Standard, Lopez revealed that a busy schedule had been preventing the couple from tying the knot sooner.
"I have a movie I’m shooting in October [Marry Me] and the movie has an album that goes with it, so I'm just a little bit busy right now," she explained. "And until October, he has the World Series in baseball. We’re going to have to pick a day, pick a time and block it out, but we’re definitely talking about it."
She maintained that marriage was still a priority because they both "come from traditional Latin families and we want that."
February 2020 — J.Lo says once again that she's in no rush to get married
As reported by People, during her conversation with Oprah Winfrey on her 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus Tour, Lopez spoke about her wedding timeline.
"I said, 'If we're going to be together for the rest of our lives, what is the rush?" she said.
"If that’s what we’re really going to do, if we’re really going to be partners, if we’re really going to try to build something together that we both never had or never felt like we had, which is a family with a husband and a wife, and a mother and father, and we embrace all our children. We show them it’s something that we didn’t have."
And it appears that her thoughts on this had changed since she first got engaged to Rodriguez. "It’s so funny because when we first got engaged, I was like, 'Oh, we’re going to get married in a couple of months," she added to the talk show host. "It’s so funny because when we first got engaged, I was like, 'Oh, we’re going to get married in a couple of months."
April 2020 — J.Lo and A-Rod push back their wedding
As the Covid-19 pandemic continued to wreak havoc amongst wedding plans, it appeared that even the rich and famous weren't spared.
"[The pandemic] did affect [our plans] a little bit," she told Ellen DeGeneres during a virtual interview. "So, we will see what happens now. Honestly, I really don't know what's going to happen now as far as dates or anything like that. We're just kind of in a holding pattern like the rest of the world. So, again, it's something we're just going to have to wait and see in a few months how this all pans out."
January 2021 — J.Lo reveals they've postponed their wedding twice
Lopez and Rodriguez actually had to scrap their plans to tie the knot not once, but twice.
"We postponed the wedding twice," she disclosed in an interview with Elle. "We had planned what we really, really wanted to do, [but] I don’t know if we’ll be able to re-create that. We cancelled it, and since then we haven’t really talked about it. There’s no rush. We want to do it right when we can do it. We just have to wait to see where the world lands."
January 2021 — The Madison LeCroy scandal
When a preview of the Southern Charm reunion aired, cast member Craig Conover accused fellow star Madison LeCroy of being "a f*cking homewrecker" after accusing her of cheating on his friend, Austin Kroll, by having an affair with an undisclosed ex-major league baseball player.
Although the name was bleeped out on the episode, LeCroy later confirmed that her costars were indeed referring to Rodriguez, per US Magazine.
"He contacted me. And yes, we DMed," she said on the reunion. "But other than that, there was nothing. I’ve never physically seen him, touched him. I am not a f*king liar and I will stand up for that."
February 2021 — A source shoots down the cheating rumours
After the allegations surface, an insider tells Entertainment Tonight: "[Lopez and Rodriguez are so connected both romantically as a couple and as a family with their kids and these rumours wouldn’t break that.
"Jennifer isn’t bothered and doesn’t care about the Alex and Madison rumors. She thinks it’s outside noise and trusts Alex. She’s so in love with him."
March 2021 — Reports surface that the couple have split
Ever the heavyweight when it comes to celeb breakups, TMZ reported on March 12th that the couple had called off their engagement.
An insider corroborated to People that the split had been a "long time coming".
The source added: "They are tied in their business worlds so it's not a cut and dry break up. It's taken a while for them to even think about untangling it all."
March 2021 — The pair deny the break-up
One day later, Lopez and Rodriguez issue a statement to TMZ, disputing claims of their separation.
"All the reports are inaccurate. We are working through some things," they asserted to the publication.
April 2021 — J.Lo fuels split rumours again
Many believed that Lopez was sending a message through her social media — despite reports that Rodriguez was doing his best to make it work — given that she had posted no pictures of them together since February.
Then, on April 10th, she shared a photo of herself while working on Shotgun Wedding where her engagement ring was missing — further fuelling speculation that she had called things off with the sports star.
April 2021 — The official split is announced
Lopez and Rodriguez formally announced their split via a joint statement to The Today Show.
It read: "We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so. We will continue to work together and support each other on our shared businesses and projects.
"We wish the best for each other and one another’s children. Out of respect for them, the only other comment we have to say is thank you to everyone who has sent kind words and support."
