When it comes to Hollywood divorces, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner appear to have nailed it, having navigated co-parenting and new relationships with ease in the decade since they announced their bombshell split.
So much so, that in March, following the finalisation of Ben’s two-year marriage to Jennifer Lopez, the exes sparked rumours that they could be set to reunite after Ben, 52, was pictured smiling and wrapping his arms around Jen, 53, on a day out paintballing with their children.
The former couple, who were married for ten years after first meeting on the set of Pearl Harbour back in 2000, share three children together – Violet, 19, Seraphina [Fin], 16, and Samuel, 13 – and are regularly spotted out on family trips, including to a Boston Red Sox baseball game last month.
It’s clear that in the years since their break up, and while Jen has since moved on with investment CEO John Miller, who she began dating in 2018, the former couple remain inextricably linked, with Jen reportedly being a shoulder to lean on for Ben following the breakdown of his marriage to JLo.
At the time, in January, reports suggested that Ben, who has called his 2015 divorce from Jen ‘the biggest regret of my life’, would ‘love another chance’ to reunite with Jen, but that the ‘feeling was not mutual’ on her side.
Now, in another twist to the ‘Are they? Aren’t they?’ riddle, sources now tell us that while Ben is still ‘clinging on’, Jen has other ideas…
As we previously reported, a characteristically private Jen appeared to put heed to those reconciliation rumours when she was photographed intimately kissing partner John in April, with sources telling us at the time that the Family Switch actress had wanted to ‘finally set up some boundaries with Ben’ and let him know that John is now the main man in her life.
In May, John was also pictured outside of her home in LA, with sources confirming that John had moved into Jen's family home 'part time'.
And Jen now appears to be ready to take her commitment to John a step further after being spotted wearing a sparkling engagement ring on That Finger last week while working in LA.
But with Jen appearing to send out a loud and clear message that she is finally ready to say her ‘I dos’ with John, a source tells Heat that the news has plunged Ben into a ‘nightmare’ he thought would never truly happen.
The insider tells us, ‘Jen has been back and forth on whether to marry John for a while, now she’s telling friends it’s happening and how happy they both are and that John is her soulmate.
‘She’s looking into the perfect venue and the invitations she wants to send out, the music, the guest list… she’s knee deep in wedding planning.
‘But for Ben, it’s torture. He was clinging to the hope she’d have second thoughts and call it off, but now that’s clearly not happening. He has to get his head around the fact she’ll be officially married soon and tied down to someone else.’
It’s undeniably a heavy fall for Ben, who Jen continued to profess was ‘the love of my life’ even after their divorce.
In the months following their split, amidst speculation over his affair with their children’s nanny, his obsession with his career and his known alcohol addiction, Jen gave a heart-breaking interview to Vanity Fair, saying of their 2005 Turks and Caicos wedding, ‘I would go back and remake that decision. I ran down the beach to him, and I would again. You can’t have these three babies and so much of what we had. He’s the love of my life. What am I going to do about that?’
Meeting John a few years later, however, has unmistakably shifted Jen’s reality, and the source says she is no longer willing to downplay her commitment to John to spare Ben’s feelings.
They tell us, ‘She and John are both excited about taking the next step in their relationship with a wedding, and she’s no longer sugar coating that reality with Ben.
‘He’s been told in no uncertain terms that this is the man Jen wants to build a long term future with, she’s deeply in love with him and wants no part of anything romantic with Ben ever again.’
They continue, ‘That’s not to say she doesn’t love and adore Ben, it’s just strictly platonic and he’s like a brother to her now. So he’s had no choice but to give up the ghost and try to move on, but he’s found it very difficult.
‘Jen is undeniably Ben’s soulmate, he sees now that she’s the love of his life and he made a terrible mistake letting her slip through his fingers.’
No doubt the pair will continue their harmonious co-parenting relationship, with Ben praising Jen on several occasions for being a ‘wonderful’ mother to their children.
In March, he gave fans a glimpse into their partnership, saying, ‘I'm really lucky that I have a really good co-parent and partner in Jennifer Garner, the kids' mom, who's wonderful and great and we work together well.’
But now the source says Ben is still struggling to adjust to the new setup, which has seen John play a larger role in Jen’s life while friends encourage Ben to move on himself.
The source tells us, ‘He’s trying to cling to the positives and remind himself that he’s got a dream co-parent to raise the kids with, plus friends constantly tell Ben he’s got plenty more time to find someone else to share his life with.
‘He gets all that and is grateful that John’s a good guy who’s respectful to his kids but the situation still hurts badly and he’s not used to having his ego bruised like this.
‘He really thought he’d win Jen back and there’s still a teeny part of him that still believes it’s written in the stars eventually. For now though, he’s got to sit back, suffer and suck it up.’