JENNIFER Lopez has gone topless for a racy photo shoot as she opens up about her split from Ben Affleck.
The actress and singer has described the latest dramatic saga in her love life as being “lonely and scary” – as well as “f***ing hard”.
Stripping down to a very racy leopard print outfit, JLo has broken her silence on her turbulent summer that saw her short marriage to her actor ex end.
The A-listers tied the knot in a July 2022 Las Vegas ceremony and had a more extravagant celebration the following month in Georgia.
But Jennifer filed for divorce in August after just two years’ wed.
The newly-single superstar told Interview Magazine: “You’re either growing or dying, and I don’t want to do the dying part.
“When you get to a point where you think that you’ve learned the lessons, and then it blows up in your face again, you realize, ‘okay, I haven’t, so what is it that I need to look at right now?’
“I would say, never stop looking inward, because it’s so easy to blame everybody else.
“You have to be good on your own. I thought I learned that, but I didn’t. And then, this summer, I had to be like, ‘I need to go off and be on my own. I want to prove to myself that I can do that.’
JLO added: “It’s f***ing hard! It feels lonely, unfamiliar, scary. It feels sad. It feels desperate.
“Being in a relationship doesn’t define me. I can’t be looking for happiness in other people. I have to have happiness within myself.
“I used to say I’m a happy person, but was still looking for something for somebody else to fill, and it’s just like, ‘no, I’m actually good’.”
The exes first struck up a romance in the early 2000s – with their couple name “Bennifer” becoming a defining moment in pop culture.
He proposed in November 2002 with an iconic pink-diamond engagement ring, but eventually called it off in January 2004.
They rekindled their whirlwind romance in the spring of 2021 and went public with the relationship in June of that same year.
Ben popped the question for a second time with a stunning green engagement ring in April 2022.
Jennifer Lopez’s relationship timeline
Ojani Noa
Lopez was briefly married to Cuban waiter Ojani Noa. The pair wed on February 22, 1997, but split less than a year later.
Since then, Lopez has endured legal challenges regarding her relationship with Noa, including in 2006 when she sued to prevent him from publishing a book about their marriage.
Sean Combs
While working on her debut album On The 6, Lopez began dating record producer and rapper Sean Combs.
They dated for two years from 1999 to 2001.
Cris Judd
After splitting with Combs, Lopez began to date former backup dancer Cris Judd. They wed on September 29, 2001.
But this too was a brief marriage, as they divorced less than a year later in June 2002, citing irreconcilable differences.
Ben Affleck
Just months after divorcing Judd, Lopez became engaged to actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck in November 2002.
The pair were due to get married in September 2003 but postponed the wedding indefinitely just a day before the ceremony and then split January 2004.
Nearly 20 years later, the pair made headlines after rekindling their romance in July 2021.
Marc Anthony
Following her heartbreak with Ben Affleck, Lopez started a relationship with her longtime friend, singer Marc Anthony.
She married Anthony in June 2004, and on November 7, 2007, during the final night of their co-headlining tour, the couple announced they were expecting their first child.
Lopez gave birth to twins Emme and Maximilian in February 2008.
But three years later, in July 2011, the couple announced their split and filed for divorce in April 2012. Their divorce was finalized in 2014.
Casper Smart
Between October 2011 and August 2016, Lopez had an on-off relationship with her former backup dancer, Casper Smart.
She then found love with former New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez the following year.
In March 2019, the couple announced their engagement.
Alex Rodriguez
Rodriguez met Lopez 20 years ago when the baseball star asked for the pop star’s autograph and again at New York Yankees game.
It was first announced the couple was dating in March 2017.
On April 14, 2021, the couple released a statement to Today saying that they have ended their two-year engagement.
