She’s happy with her CEO boyfriend, but Jennifer Garner can’t stop worrying about her newly married ex Ben Affleck

Jennifer Garner is growing increasingly concerned after ex Ben Affleck is photographed looking worse for wear while out with his new wife, Jennifer Lopez.

While Jennifer Garner’s ex-husband Ben Affleck continues to make headlines over his surprise July 16 Las Vegas wedding to Jennifer Lopez and their ultra glamorous Parisian mini-honeymoon, Garner seems to be enjoying the simpler things in life. In a July 24 Instagram post, the actress was all smiles as she held a wooden bucket in a sunny greenhouse surrounded by fresh fruits and veggies. “Summer love, from Farmer Jen,” she wrote, wearing a breezy flowered dress, white sneakers, and not a stitch of makeup.

Garner and Affleck — who ended their marriage in 2015 after 10 years — couldn’t be living more different lives. But they remain connected, in part because of their three children (Violet, 16, Seraphina, 13, and 10-year-old Samuel) and, according to a source, because Garner, 50, hasn’t fully let go of Affleck. “Jen will always keep an eye on how Ben’s doing,” the source tells Us. The Tender Bar actor, 49, has struggled with alcohol addiction in the past; his third and most recent stint in rehab was in 2018. “Jen and Ben have been through a lot and they’ve come really far,” explains the source. “He clearly has a lot going on right now with Jennifer and all the attention that comes with their relationship, along with his demanding career and, of course, his kids. He’s being pulled in a lot of directions — and that’s something that quietly worries Jen.” Privately, Garner is fearful that history will repeat itself, and that a burned-out Affleck could push himself to the edge. Amid happy photos of him and Lopez, 53, traipsing around Europe — on July 22 they were photographed making out on a park bench near the Elysée Palace and shopping in Paris (along with Affleck’s daughter Seraphina and Lopez’s child, Emme, 14, whom she shares with ex Marc Anthony) — some images raised red flags.

On July 23, Affleck was caught snoozing on a boat during a private afternoon tour of the Seine river. And the following evening, while celebrating Lopez’s 53rd birthday together at La Girafe restaurant, he was spotted crying during what appeared to be a highly emotional moment. “Ben fell asleep because he was exhausted,” says the source. “He’s been tearing around Vegas and finalizing the purchase of their new home in L.A. His life is whirlwind,” adds the source. “He’s burning the candle at both ends and that’s why he got emotional at dinner with Jennifer.”

TALE OF TWO JENS

Garner sees that Affleck has grown a lot since their split.

“Jen is happy for Ben, that’s not what this is about,” insists the source. And a second source promises she has no issue with Lopez either. (Affleck and Lopez were engaged in 2002 but called their wedding off in 2004; Affleck moved on with Garner shortly after.) “Both Jennifers get along very well,” promises the second source, noting that Lopez’s twins, Emme and Max, also “get along beautifully” with Garner and Affleck’s kids. The mutual respect between the two women “has helped foster positive relations.”

NEXT CHAPTER

Garner has more than enough on her plate to keep her busy. The first source says things are solid between the Alias alum and her burger chain CEO boyfriend, John Miller. The duo initially got together in April 2017 and split briefly in 2020 before reconciling in May 2021. The source says they’re ready to take the next step and get engaged — but both are wary of going public with the romance. (A third source shares that the “secretive” pair meet at each other’s homes for low-key dinners and go on getaways to New York and Santa Barbara, Calif.) “John treats Jen with respect and kindness,” says the first source. “He gives her space when she needs it and is her rock during tough times. They’re very much in love.” •

J-Lo’s Ex-Husband Doubts Her Marriage to Ben ‘Will Last’—He Thinks She’ll Be Married ‘7 or 8 Times’

Hopeless romantic? Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husband Ojani Noa‘s response to Ben Affleck’s wedding reveals what he really thinks about his ex-wife and Bennifer.

Ojani, J-Lo’s first husband who was married to her from 1997 to 1998, told The Daily Mail on July 30, 2022, that he wish his ex-wife and her new husband “the best” but doubts they “will last.” “Ben is husband number four. I was husband number one and she told me I was the love of her life. When we lay in bed on our wedding night, she said we would be together forever,” Ojani said, claiming that J-Lo just “loves being in love.”

Ojani also told The Daily Mail that he predicts J-Lo will be married “seven or eight times” in her lifetime and that he can’t see her “ever settling down with one person.” “I wish her and Ben the best, but I’m not convinced it will last,” Ojani said. “I think she’s someone who will be married seven or eight times. I can’t see her ever settling down with one person. She pushes herself to constantly go forward in her professional life, which is why she’s had a three-decade career, but she also moves on in her private life.”

There is one way Ojani sees J-Lo and Ben’s marriage lasting, however, and it’s if J-Lo’s mother, Guadalupe Rodriguez, approves of Ben. “If Ben has Lupe on his side then maybe he’s got a chance,” Ojani said. J-Lo has been married four times and been engaged six times to five different men. Her first marriage was to waiter Ojani Noa from 1997 to 1998. Her second marriage was to dancer Cris Judd from 2001 to 2003. Her third marriage was to singer Marc Anthony from 2004 to 2014. Marc and J-Lo also share two children: 14-year-old twins Emme Maribel Muñiz and Maximilian David Muñiz. J-Lo’s fourth marriage is to Ben Affleck, whom she married in July 2022. J-Lo and Ben first started dating in 2002 and got engaged that year. They were set to wed in 2003 but cancelled their wedding before splitting in 2004. J-Lo and Ben reunited in 2021 after ended her engagement to Alex Rodriguez, whom she dated from 2017 to 2021.

In his interview with The Daily Mail, Ojani—a Cuban refugee who fled his home when he was 15 in an inflatable boat—explained that he met J-Lo when he was 22 years old while he worked as a dishwasher and waiter at Gloria Estefan’s Ocean Drive restaurant Lario’s On The Beach. “Miami was buzzing. I did some modelling. I hustled. I wanted the American dream – and I found it when Jen walked into Lario’s,” he said. “I had no idea who she was. Our eyes glanced at each other and I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.”

The next night J-Lo returned to the restaurant, where Noa served her another customer’s French fries after the “On the Floor” singer said they looked “yummy.” “I was smitten. She was wearing a white top and trousers, and I remember thinking she had the best body I’d ever seen. She later told me she knew that first night she was going to marry me,” he said. That night, J-Lo and Ojani partied at the club Commune, where he learned from J-Lo’s friend that she was interested in him.”When we got to the club my friend Leo took Jen to the dance floor, and I thought, ‘Oh man, you’re a lucky guy.’ Then [her friend] said, ‘When they get back, take Jen out there. It’s you she’s interested in,’” he said. “They get back and I take her hand and lead her on to the floor, and a slow song comes on. It was electric. She was shaking and said, ‘You make me nervous.’ “We could both feel the romantic energy. It was instant and intense. Like it was surging through our bodies. I said, ‘I feel the same way you’re feeling.’ I lifted her chin and gave her a kiss – it was a kiss like we’d known each other forever.”

During that kiss, Ojani recalled a fan seeing them and saying, “Oh my God, that’s Jennifer Lopez from Money Train,” which is when Ojani realized how famous J-Lo was.“That’s when I realized maybe she was somebody,” he said. “The next morning my pager goes off. Jen had to see me before her flight. The door goes and I open it and she falls into my arms. We kissed, and as she drove off in her limo, she looked back like in the movies and I thought, ‘This is it. This is crazy,’”

While J-Lo was in Los Angeles, Ojani would talk to her on the payphone of the restaurant he worked at. When J-Lo returned to Miami, she invited him to be her date at the premiere of the movie, Blood and Wine.“I rented a cheap suit. We got to the red carpet, there were all these flashing lights and fans screaming. I started to feel sick. I walked down the carpet holding her hand then stood to the side while she gave interviews. “I heard her say, ‘Jack, I want you to meet my date, Ojani.’” he recalled “I turned around and she was introducing me to Jack Nicholson. Then she said, ‘This is Michael’ – and it was Michael Caine. I felt like I was in a movie. A few years earlier I was on a dinghy in the ocean running away from Fidel Castro, and now I’m on a red carpet. Michael Caine was lovely. He said, ‘Don’t worry, you will get used to it.’”

Ojani revealed to The Daily Mail that the night of the premiere was the first time he and J-Lo had sex. “That was the first time we made love. It was perfect. She was perfect. We lay there afterwards and she said, ‘I want you to always be in my life. I love you.’ I felt like Mr. Cinderella,” he said. “She’s a traditional girl. She comes from a humble Puerto Rican family. She wanted someone to protect her, someone who would stand up for her. We fell totally in love.” He continued, “I quit my job and moved to LA. We lived in a nice apartment. But soon we moved into our first house and then the houses kept getting bigger. She loved that I was a balseros [rafter] from Cuba. I never wanted anything from her. I always worked and had my own money. We’d been together about six months when she got Selena. We went to San Antonio, Texas, for the shoot and every night we’d come back to the hotel and she’d collapse in my arms filled with insecurity. She didn’t think she was good enough. In the middle of the night she would burst into tears. I comforted her and said she was the best, that she was killing it.”