BEN Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s divorce was allegedly fuelled by the Argo actor’s growing closeness to his ex-fiancee Jennifer Lopez.
The Hollywood couple announced their split on Tuesday, just a day after their 10th wedding anniversary.
Sources revealed there were a number of factors behind the breakup, including Garner’s growing frustration with her husband’s alleged heavy drinking and gambling.
Now The Sun reports the Good Will Hunting actor’s continued friendship with J-Lo was too much for 43-year-old Garner.
The original ‘Bennifer’ dated for 18 months — and made two movies together, Jersey Girl and Gigli — made before calling it quits in January 2004 just days before their wedding ceremony. They reconnected at the Oscars in February.
“Everyone is talking about J-Lo and Ben and saying it’s inevitable they will get together again at some point,†a source told the publication.
“We call them the Richard Burton and Liz Taylor of Hollywood. They were pretty flirty at the Oscars and have stayed in touch over email. Jennifer Garner never liked it.â€
Pop star J-Lo, 45, recently reunited with her on-off boyfriend Casper Smart.
Friends also revealed the marriage fell apart after Affleck, 42, hit the bottle to prepare for his role in Gone Girl.
There appeared to be some clues in the lead up to the split, with some saying the pair, who have three children, have been separated for six months.
In 2013 when he accepted his Oscar for Argo, Affleck thanked Garner for “working†on their marriage.
“It is work but it’s the best kind of work and there is nobody else I would rather do that kind of work with,†he said.
He told Details magazine a year earlier that his wife was “patient†with his workaholic tendencies.
“I am not very present in the rest of my life,†he said. “My wife’s very patient. She does everything. If I have time, I try to spend time with the kids, even if just to be a physical presence, the bath, whatever. But my mind’s always going, ‘How are we going to light that shot tomorrow?’â€
Garner told Yahoo! in May this year that perhaps Affleck wasn’t the kind of father she had envisaged when they married.
“You just go on a ride together because you don’t know who you’re going to be when you first have a baby and you don’t know who [your partner] is going to be,†she said.
“You have to just hang in there while you figure it out — and have a lot of patience for each other.â€
Reports of gambling and heavy drinking continue to plague Affleck. He checked into rehab for alcohol addiction in 2001 after his first high-profile split from Gwyneth Paltrow.
The Shakespeare in Love star told Howard Stern in January this year that while she and Affleck remain good friends, he wasn’t the best boyfriend.
“He was not in a good place in his life to have a girlfriend,†she said.
The pair dated from 1997 to 2000 after which Paltrow said that Affleck would be “better off dating a Scores stripper. Anyone that serves cold beer in a bikini.â€
Affleck and Garner are parents to Violet, Seraphina and Samuel.