Real reason why Ben Affleck and J.Lo actually filed for divorce after he breaks silence on split

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck shocked the world last year when the dissolution of their marriage was confirmed.

Fans were thrilled when the two stars rekindled their iconic 00s relationship in 2021, with them eventually marrying in 2022 - two decades after they were originally meant to tie the knot before getting married and having children with other partners.

Upon their reunion, Bennifer even got matching tattoos to celebrate their commitment.

However, their happiness was short-lived as it was announced on August 21 last year that the couple had split, with many speculating about the state of their relationship after noticing several signs of trouble.

Although the pair have remained private about the divorce, J.Lo made a heartfelt admission last year, revealing that the summer had been 'so hard' for her.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are now divorced (MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

A source told the Daily Mail that the pair had 'finalised the divorce papers' a month before they announced the split, but were 'waiting for the right time to drop them'.

The divorce papers listed the date of separation as 26 April, 2024. Lopez filed the legal paperwork on 21 August, with the reason citing irreconcilable differences.

A commonly used reason for marriage terminations - especially in the often-private celebrity world - Girlings Solicitors describes 'irreconcilable differences' as 'disagreements between people, especially two married people that cannot be resolved'.

So, what does irreconcilable differences mean in this context?

Affleck shared new details about the split in a recent interview. He began by explaining why he decided to be involved in the 2024 documentary about his and Lopez' marriage, The Greatest Love Story Never Told.

The couple rekindled their romance in 2021 after breaking up way back in the 00s (MEGA/GC Images)

"Part of it was, 'Okay, if I’m going to participate in this, I want to try to do it in an honest way and in a way that’s interesting'," the Good Will Hunting star began. "Because I thought it was an interesting examination."

Admitting that 'there are a lot of people who I think have handled celebrity more adeptly and more adroitly than I have, Jennifer among them', Affleck continued: "My temperament is to be a little bit more reserved and private than hers.

"As happens in relationships, you don’t always have the same attitude towards these things. And so I thought, 'Oh, this is interesting', because how do you reconcile that?"

He continued: "I love and support this person. I believe in them. They’re great. I want people to see that.

The reason of their divorce cited irreconcilable differences (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

"And I think the thing that I said in that documentary or the piece that they used was where I said, You don’t marry a ship captain and then say, 'Well, I don’t like going out in the water'.

"You’ve got to own what you knew going into any relationship. And I think it’s important to say that wasn’t the cause of some major fracture. It’s not like you can watch that documentary and go, 'Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had.'"

He later assured fans: "There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue. The truth is, when you talk to somebody, 'Hey, what happened?' Well, there is no, 'This is what happened'. "It’s just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships in ways that we all sort of normally do."