It’s not unusual to go for a bit of an image change after a split, but Jennifer Lopez is taking her ex-husband Ben Affleck’s recent glow-up personally.
The Batman star, 52, has been spotted out and about with a noticeably darker hair and beard, prompting fans to suspect he has dyed his greys following his recent break-up from Jen, 55. Ben has also looking noticeably buffer and smarter these past few months, but the actor’s makeover has reportedly got his pop star ex feeling offended, with sources saying she is infuriated that he has only started looking after himself now that she isn’t around to reap the benefits.
An insider says, ‘Ben is suddenly going out of his way to pamper himself and look his absolute best. He’s dyeing his hair, getting manicures and pedicures, getting waxed from head to toe – he’s even getting hair plugs and seeing a dermatologist for skin treatments to turn back the clock. As you can imagine, J.Lo is seeing red because these are all the things she wanted him to do when they were together and he refused.’
For a while, it seemed like Bennifer were a Hollywood fairy tale. They first began dating back in 2002, and got engaged later that year in a whirlwind romance. They dramatically called off their first wedding just four days before she was set to walk down the aisle, but reconnected in May 2021. They were then married for two years, before J.Lo filed for divorce in August this year. Several months before the official split, Ben had already moved out of their Beverly Hills mansion where they lived with their blended family made up of J.Lo’s 16-year-old twins Max and Emme, who she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony, 56, and Ben’s children Violet, 18, Fin, 15, and Samuel, 12, who he co-parents with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, 52.
Ben’s new look isn’t simply thanks to a trip to the salon – he has reportedly had a complete overhaul of his lifestyle now Jen is out of the picture. His new routine comes after years of Jen begging him to take better care of himself, leaving the Let’s Get Loud singer feeling wounded. A source confirms, ‘Even his diet is cleaner, as he’s cut out a ton of the junk. It feels like a total slap in the face to J.Lo because it’s sending the message that she wasn’t worth making these changes for, but now that he’s single and looking to impress new women, he’s willing to step it up and stop being such a slob.’
Despite their divorce not yet being finalised, Ben has already been linked to other women and was recently spotted with JFK’s great-niece Kick Kennedy. However, our insider says that Ben swears his new look is not a snub at his ex, he’s merely embracing the idea of being the ‘hot dad’.
‘Ben insists this had nothing to do with J.Lo, he’s just getting back to his old self after spending so long being micromanaged in his relationship,’ we’re told. ‘He grew tired of trying to impress her and live up to her standards. Now, he’s taking advantage of the freedom to do what he wants. The irony is that now that she can’t tell him what to do, he’s realised she wasn’t entirely wrong.
‘At this stage in his life, Ben wants to look and feel his best, especially since he’s single again and looking to get back on the dating scene. J.Lo is watching all of this unfold with a mixture of frustration and disbelief. It bothers her to see him making all these improvements, knowing that someone else will eventually benefit from the effort she helped inspire. Her inner circle is telling her he’s just a middle-aged fool who didn’t deserve her, but she’s feeling pretty let down. It’s a bitter pill to swallow.’
