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Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are at the centre of rumours they are rekindling their romance – but both have reportedly denied the suggestion.
The Gone Girl actor and 13 Going on 30 star, both 52, separated in 2015 after 10 years of marriage and divorced three years later. They share three children: Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12.
Reports that Affleck is interested in reuniting with Garner came weeks after the actor’s divorce from singer Jennifer Lopez, who he married in July 2022 after years of on-off dating, was finalised.
Affleck and Garner have remained close friends and co-parents despite their separation, with the pair spotted volunteering at an unhoused community together on Thanksgiving last November.
During their visit to the Combat Paintball Park in Castaic near Los Angeles on Sunday (2 March), the Argo actor-director could be seen putting his arm around Garner’s waist in footage obtained by the MailOnline.
A source subsequently told Page Six that Affleck “would love another chance” with Garner “if the timing is ever right”.
They added: “At the same time, Ben knows it’s just not realistic at this time in their lives.”
Hours later, an insider close to Garner hit back via the publication, saying the “feeling is not mutual” for the star, who has been dating tech company CEO John Miller since 2018.
“Jen has a great co-parenting relationship with Ben, and that’s where things stand on her end at the moment,” they said, adding Garner is “happy” with her boyfriend.
Meanwhile, a source told MailOnline: “Ben is not Jen’s boyfriend, nor is he her husband anymore. John [Miller] is her partner, and she is happy in her relationship.
“Ben’s friends truly believe that if Jen and John split, that he would get back together with her in a heartbeat. But that is not the case, and Ben respects her relationship with John.”
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They added: “Ben and Jen have a unique relationship, especially for exes. He loves her more than any woman he has ever loved besides his mom.
“But he also accepts that this cannot be. Not while she is devoted to someone else. Ben will always flirt with Jen, and she sees it as innocent.”
Following Garner’s reported rebuff, an Affleck source later told TMZ that rumours of the star wanting to rekindle with his ex-wife are “ridiculous”.
They added that Affleck isn’t currently dating anyone as he’s too busy with work – he is directing a forthcoming Netflix thriller Animals – to focus on romance.
The Independent has contacted Affleck and Garner’s representatives for comment.
Many fans have previously criticised Affleck’s treatment of Garner after he partially blamed his struggles with alcoholism on his marriage to her when speaking on The Howard Stern Show in 2021.
Garner remained offline as the media storm erupted around her split from Affleck in 2015. A year later, she admitted to Vanity Fair he was the love of her life.
“He’s the most brilliant person in any room, the most charismatic, the most generous,” she said. “He’s just a complicated guy. I always say, ‘When his sun shines on you, you feel it.’ But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it’s cold. He can cast quite a shadow.”
