Jennifer Lopez opens up about Ben Affleck: 'It's a beautiful love story that we got a second chance'

In real life, Lopez has experienced an unlikely love story over the last year or so by reuniting with Ben Affleck, whom she was previously involved with from 2002-04.

"It's a beautiful love story that we got a second chance," Lopez told People for the publication's new cover, also noting that she and Affleck "had a little bit of fear" around how their rekindling would be received publicly because of how massively "Bennifer" blew up the first time.

The 52-year-old multi-hyphenate added:

"I just feel very happy and lucky to be in a relationship that's happy and loving, and I want to do everything I can to protect that and keep it safe. It deserves that, it really does. ... We hold it sacred. It's beautiful the way it feels very different than it was years ago. ... There's more of an appreciation and a celebration for it, which is nice. When you find somebody and you really, really love them and you get a second chance at that? That is a really rare, precious, beautiful thing and we don't take it for granted."

After Affleck and Lopez called off their engagement in 2004, Lopez married Marc Anthony in 2004, and then Affleck married Jennifer Garner in 2005.

Lopez shares nearly 14-year-old twins Emme and Max with Anthony, whom she split from in 2011.

Affleck shares daughters Violet, 16, Seraphina, 13 and son Samuel, 9, with Garner, whom he split from in 2015. (The divorce was finalized in 2018.)

"We're older now, we're smarter, we have more experience, we're at different places in our lives, we have kids now, and we have to be very conscious of those things," said Lopez. "We're so protective because it is such a beautiful time for all of us."