There's a reason Bennifer's divorce feels so personal.

Following weeks of divorce rumours and public speculation, Jennifer Lopez has filed for divorce from Ben Affleck. TMZ confirmed the news, reporting that there was no prenuptial agreement.

Lopez filed for divorce on the couple's second wedding anniversary. 

Rumours of their imminent divorce went into overdrive earlier this year when the couple put their family home up for sale. This was a significant move considering the couple only moved into the Beverly Hills home last year. 

Suspicions were first raised that all was not well between the couple after they had hardly been seen together since they promoted Lopez's visual album for This Is Me... Now last February, which was funded by the 'Get Loud' singer and co-written by Affleck.

Then Lopez cancelled her US tour of her current album, citing that she had decided to take "time off to be with her children, family and close friends". Then came the announcement.

Sorry folks, the dream is dead. Bennifer have filed for divorce.

So why does this split hurt so much? After all, we survived the celebrity divorce-megeddon of 2023. 

Okay, this one did cut deep. Image: Getty. 

But this hits different. The couple's 2021 reunion and 2022 marriage was a satisfying conclusion for those who have long wondered about the elusive 'one that got away'. 

You know the one. 

Most of us have a person they compare a lot of their future romantic partners to. They might be a first boyfriend, a situationship that never got off the ground, or in my case, a boy in a band who I kissed a few times in my 20s. A classic tale. 

Bennifer's divorce has crushed this dream. It's extinguished a burning fantasy nestled in the back corner of every true romantic's mind.

For Affleck and Lopez, their love story was forged in Hollywood: they met on the set of the failed film Gigli in 2001 and had a high-profile romance (glamourous red carpets and music video cameos to boot) leading up to it all blowing up in their faces. 

They broke up three days before their wedding in 2004. 

For a lot of us, this niggling dream of the 'one that got away' will always stay in our mind: whether we move on to another relationship, get married, or just decide we're happier staying single and unbothered. 

But in the case of Affleck and Lopez, they achieved the fantasy: they got back together in 2021 and got married in 2022, 18 years after their original planned wedding. It was the stuff of modern millennial fairytales. 

What added to the surprise and delight is that both parties had separate families in the years since their first relationship and in Lopez's case, several marriages under her belt. Between 2005 and 2018, Affleck was married to Jennifer Garner and they welcomed three children together. 

Meanwhile, JLo had already been married twice before she went official with Ben — first with little-known first husband Ojani Noa then backup dancer Cris Judd — before she got married to Marc Antony, who she shares twins with. They filed for divorce in 2012. 

Affleck and Lopez were both in their late-40s and 50s when they got back together, which added another layer to the fairytale: finding true love at any age is possible.  

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez reconciled in 2021. Image: Getty. 

Bennifer aren't the only couple to break up and then reunite.

Katy Perry gave this trope its anthem with her hit song 'The One That Got Away' which was rumoured to be about ex-husband Russell Brand, but the song's message took on a higher meaning during her on/off relationship with Orlando Bloom. 

Perry and Bloom first met in 2016 but after about a year of dating, they announced they had split in 2017. But by 2018, they had gotten back together and Bloom proposed to Perry on Valentine's Day in 2019 and they welcomed their daughter Daisy in 2020. 

Another Hollywood power couple who had a devastating split only to reconcile was Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor, whose love story spans decades. The Zoolander and Dodgeball costars got married back in 2000 and shocked Hollywood when they announced their split in 2017. 

Two years later, they left spectators confused when they posed happily together at the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards. Stiller later confirmed to Esquire that the pair were officially back together. "We were separated and got back together and we’re happy about that. It’s been really wonderful for all of us," he said. 

Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller still going strong in 2024. Image: Getty. 

And of course, there's the Biebs. 

Justin and Hailey Bieber were all about the long-game. They met as teenagers back in 2005 but didn't confirm they were officially dating until 2016 only to split later that year. They would reunite in 2018 — not before a brief Selena Gomez intermission to spice up life — and get engaged a month after their reunion. The rest is history. 

These are all examples of couples who got together, split, and are still together to this day. But in the case of Affleck and Ben, perhaps 'the one that got away' had got away for good reason. 

Life doesn't follow a fairytale's trajectory of happily ever afters and we are often doomed to make the same mistakes — even when we're meant to be older and wiser. 

We don't know the reason for the split but it's already being fictionalised as a Hollywood myth. The popular theory is that Lopez's cheesy movie about their love story had pushed her director husband over the edge. 

Listen to The Spill's hosts pinpoint Lopez's downfall. Post continues after podcast.

Several reactions from Affleck have been highlighted in the movie's documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told which could suggest the actor was uncomfortable with their love story being mined for content in This Is Me.... Now. 

"Things that are private, I’d always felt were sacred and special—because, in part, they’re private. So that was a bit of an adjustment for me," he said in the documentary.  

This is a nice story, but it's doubtful that it paints the full picture of the demise of a two-year marriage. 

It's also a little too convenient a narrative, coming at a time when Lopez's career has taken a nosedive with a poorly reviewed new album and mounting criticism on TikTok over some of her past behaviour. 

It's made harder still with Affleck's recent career wins, including fifth directorial debut, Air.

But there are no winners in a celebrity divorce — only losers. 

The Bennifer dream might not be over forever but if history serves, we might have to wait another two decades to find out. 

Feature image: Getty. 

This article was originally published on June 10, 2024 and has since been updated with new information.

Calling all TV and streaming enthusiasts! Complete this survey now to go in the running to win a $50 gift voucher.