Daily Times

Jennifer Lopez is in her self-love era. More than a month after filing for divorce from Ben Affleck, the “Let’s Get Loud” singer got candid about the year her “whole f–king world exploded” and how a shift in perspective led to her and the Oscar winner’s breakup.

“You have to be complete, if you want something that’s more complete,” Lopez told comedian Nikki Glaser in an Interview magazine profile published Oct. 9. “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.'”

Without mentioning Affleck by name, Lopez added, “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.”

And that notion will continue on into the “Jenny from the Block” singer’s approach to dating moving forward. After all, she’s not interested in romance at the moment. “Here’s the thing,” Lopez, who officially filed for divorce in August after two years of marriage, shared. “There’s no new bar because I’m not looking for anybody. How’s that?”

As she put it, “I’m not looking for anybody, because everything that I’ve done over the past 25, 30 years, being in these different challenging situations, what can I f–king do when it’s just me flying on my own. What if I’m just free?”

While admitting that her current single status was “not what I thought it was going to turn out like,” the Wedding Planner star added, “This is exactly where I needed to be, to lead me to where I want to go.” But despite the pain that came with her split from Affleck-to whom she was engaged in the early aughts before their 2021 reunion-she has no regrets about their love story. “Not one second,” she emphasised. “That doesn’t mean it didn’t almost take me out for good. It almost did. But now, on the other side of it, I think to myself, ‘F–k, that is exactly what I needed.'”

As for the false narratives surrounding the end of her marriage and her current state, Lopez had to reconcile her truth with what was being put out into the world.

“I know that everything that’s being written and said about me and all the conjecture of who I am as a person, is not who I am. I learned that a long time ago,” she said. “I know I’m a good person. I know I’m a good mom. I know who my friends are. I know my friends know who I am, my mom, my dad, all that stuff.”

The Hustlers star-who is mom to 16-year-old twins Max and Emme with ex-husband Marc Anthony-is glad she took the time to re-center herself, even though it meant canceling her tour earlier this year.

“I was so devastated to let anybody down, but I just needed to be with my kids and myself and really dig down deep into things that were happening in my life,” she explained. “And I’m glad I did, because it was a really difficult time for me. Probably the hardest time of my life, but it was also the best time because I got to do that work on myself.” But soon, she’ll be back on stage. “I’ll be out there entertaining you,” she said, “and shaking my ass sooner than you know.”