They may have split in 2004, but superstar couple Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck – or Bennifer as we all called them – remained very much in each other’s lives in the ensuing years. Kimye is kaput: how Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s romance went from fairy tale love story to Hollywood horror “They are friends. They have always been friends, and they have seen each other through the years,” a source told People after the two were spotted together recently, sparking reconciliation rumours. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Iconic JLo (@theiconicjlo) The former fiancés were hanging out together around Big Sky, Montana, reports said on Monday. “[Jennifer] spent several days with Ben out of town,” a source told People magazine. “They have a strong connection. It’s all been quick and intense, but Jennifer is happy.” Meet Elon Musk’s supermodel mother Maye, 73, but who’s counting The star-powered duo was spotted driving together in Big Sky before they returned to Los Angeles on Saturday on a private jet, the sources said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Gloria ♡ / JlosWorld (@gloriajlover) They met back in 2002 on the set of Gigli, playing gangsters who fall in love while attempting to kidnap a powerful federal prosecutor’s psychologically challenged younger brother. Critics, claiming a lack of chemistry between Affleck and Lopez, panned the pic. Celine Dion: ‘Oh my God, I wish I could sing other songs’ But real life would refute that, as the pair began dating. Lopez, now 51, and Affleck, 48, went public not long after her 2003 divorce from Cris Judd, her second husband. They got engaged later that year, a proposal sealed with a 6.1-carat, pink solitaire diamond Affleck had chosen himself, custom-made by celebrity jeweller Harry Winston. The diamond was a game-changer, setting off a craze for coloured diamonds, Town & Country Magazine reported at the time. The media dubbed them “Bennifer”, one of the first hybrid celebrity-couple names ever coined. New court victories for Michael Jackson The two split briefly after postponing their September 2003 wedding, due in part to the preponderance of paparazzi, and then broke up permanently in January 2004. The A-list pair famously decoupled “in front of the entire world”, as Lopez put it in a later interview with Vanity Fair . They called off their engagement days before they were due to tie the knot, and two months before the second film they co-starred in, Jersey Girl , hit cinemas, according to People at the time. But there “was genuine love there,” as Lopez would tell People later, and the two always had complimentary things to say about each other in the 17 years since their romance ended. 7 new massive movies not to miss in May – in cinemas or at home It took her a full two years to get over Affleck, who she said held a special place in her heart, she confessed to Vanity Fair in 2017. “It was a two-year thing for me until I picked myself up again,” she said. Despite this, she returned the US$2.5 million diamond ring to Affleck, ABC News reported at the time and then exchanged rings with singer Marc Anthony in a June 2004 wedding that reportedly surprised even her close-knit family. Together they had twins, Emme and Max, now age 13. Affleck would go on to marry actress Jennifer Garner, a union that lasted 10 years before the couple separated in 2015, finalising their divorce in 2018. Lopez, meanwhile, divorced Anthony in 2014 and met Alex Rodriguez, the now-retired baseball player, in 2017. They had been engaged since 2019 and had recently been making moves in the property market but called off their relationship in April. Affleck has always spoken highly of his former flame, opening up especially in the past year on The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast Awards Chatty about the “ugly, vicious s*** written about her”, rife with racist and sexist overtones, that had swirled when they were together. Never on a month of Sundays: The Weeknd calls time on the Grammys He also praised her work ethic and talent, calling himself “humbled” to watch her in action. On May 8, Lopez and Affleck appeared in the previously taped Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World event at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Lopez performing and Affleck making an announcement onstage alongside late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. Is this the return of Bennifer? One can only hope. Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter .