Associate Editor Tom Bryant on how Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein’s nauseating showmance had us hooked – and why their off-screen romance is now stealing the show
There were the gazing looks, the little pats on the knee, and the endless inside jokes. At times, Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein’s joint interview duties to promote their new film Office Romance were as subtle as a sledgehammer . “I’d say he was the best kisser, ” purred J-Lo during one particularly flirty encounter.
When it comes to getting bums on cinema seats, it was a classic ploy straight out of the romantic comedy PR playbook. Get audiences invested in the idea of two stars falling for each other off screen and they’re far more likely to want to see them together on it.
And J-Lo and Goldstein certainly seemed to embrace the idea. Whether it was on the red carpet, or doing cringey Tik-Toks, the pair dialled up the chemistry to a hundred. As one insider put it: “It was ever so slightly nauseating but at the same time you couldn’t take your eyes off them. As a PR strategy, they played a blinder.”
But now it seems what many assumed was a showmance designed to sell their film might have been the real thing after all. According to US reports, the pair are “seeing each other”, with things between them described as “casual.” What the means in real life is always hard to say but they’ve certainly been spending time together after filming wrapped. Last week they were seen arriving in the same car at a party in LA together only to enter the bash separately so as not to raise eyebrows.
Maybe they were conscious of their fervent denials when previously asked outright if they were an item. “There’s never a time when I’m seen with somebody or working with somebody where they don’t try to put me with the person,” Lopez said with Goldstein adding: “I think if you stand near her, that’s what happens.”
“OK, so you’re not dating in real life? J-Lo was asked directly. “Not dating,” she replied, as Goldstein added: “Correct.” But things have seemed to have moved on since those comments back in the Summer.
Now many are asking: could it be fifth-time lucky for the Wedding Planner star who has never been one to give up on love, despite four marriages, two broken engagements and some very public heartbreak.
One pal said: “There is no doubt that he is certainly her type. And he enjoys lots of things that Ben Affleck didn’t….such as going to restaurants, and embracing life a bit more.”
Compared to Goldstein, she certainly has a much more colourful relationship history. Her first husband was Cuban waiter Ojani Noa, whom she married in 1997 when her acting career was beginning to take off. They separated after just 11 months.
She then began dating Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, and in December 1999, the couple were arrested following a shooting at a New York nightclub. Lopez spent several hours in police custody before being released without charge.
They separated in 2001, and that September she married backing dancer Cris Judd, whom she had met while filming the video for Love Don’t Cost a Thing.
But within nine months they had split, with Lopez already attracting attention for her growing closeness to Affleck. The pair had met while making Gigli, a film that would become one of Hollywood’s most notorious box-office disasters.
Affleck subsequently appeared in the video for Jenny From The Block, famously kissing her as they relaxed aboard a yacht. He proposed with a six-carat pink diamond ring, but their wedding, planned for September 2003, was called off just days beforehand. By January 2004, they had separated.
Five months later, Lopez married singer Marc Anthony in a ceremony at her Beverly Hills home. They welcomed twins Max and Emme in 2008, but announced their separation in 2011, with their divorce finalised three years later.
Lopez then began dating Casper Smart, another backing dancer, who was 18 years younger than her, which ended in 2016. A brief reported romance with rapper Drake followed, before she met former baseball player Alex Rodriguez in 2017.
Two years later, he proposed during a holiday in the Bahamas with a diamond ring reportedly worth more than £1million. The couple planned to marry, but postponed their wedding during the pandemic before announcing their separation in April 2021.
Within weeks, Lopez was back with Affleck, almost 17 years after their original relationship ended. The pair married in Las Vegas in July 2022, with Lopez revealing that they had queued alongside other couples for their marriage licence.
A larger wedding followed at Affleck’s estate in Georgia, where guests watched the couple exchange vows beneath a white floral arch. But in August 2024, on the second anniversary of that ceremony, Lopez filed for divorce.
Goldstein, meanwhile, has kept most of his romantic life distinctly low-key. He previously dated comedian Beth Rylance, and acknowledged their relationship during his acceptance speech at the 2021 Emmy Awards, telling her: “Beth, I love you.”
They subsequently separated, although neither publicly discussed the reasons for their split. As one insider said: “They are like chalk and cheese in many respects. A quite sensible Brit with someone as flamboyant as J-Lo. Perhaps that’s why they get on so well, you never know.”
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