Jennifer Lopez & Alex Rodriguez’s Relationship Timeline

Jennifer Lopez, left, and Alex Rodriguez arrive at the 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez have split. This is not a false alarm. The couple once known as J-Rod is no more. “We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so,” they said in a joint statement to the Today Show on Apr. 15. The two said they would still “support each other” in their shared business projects and that they “wish the best for each other and one another’s children.” The breakup comes roughly a month after Page Six reported that they called it quits, a report the couple denied. “We’re working through some things,” they said in a joint statement. Apparently, that work wasn’t enough to salvage their love. While you (and we) mourn the demise of yet another Hollywood romance, let’s take a look back at how their romance started.

Long before their sweet love story began, the pair met all the way back in 2005 when Jennifer was still married to Marc Anthony. J. Lo posed for a cute photo with the former New York Yankees player at one of his games against the New York Mets. Flash forward over a decade later to when J. Lo and A-Rod reconnected – this time romantically – and began dating in early 2017.

alex rodriguez, jennifer lopez — **Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez at the 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday on Jan. 19, 2020, in Los Angeles [AP Images].**

Just a few months after they began dating, they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the 2017 Met Gala. The pair even coordinated their outfits: the retired athlete looked dapper in a navy suit while Jennifer looked ethereal in a flowing baby blue Valentino gown. Things only got more serious as the year went on, with them landing a joint Vanity Fair cover in December.

The pair started 2018 off strong, too. During a pre-Super Bowl concert in Minneapolis, Jennifer gushed about her man and revealed that it was their one-year anniversary. “We’ve been together for one year today. I don’t want to get all mushy or anything, but baby, this song’s for you. I love you,” she said at the Feb. 2018 event. There were also plenty of red carpet appearances that year; they were a unified front at the Met Gala, the MTV Video Music Awards, and the premiere for Jennifer’s film Second Act.

Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez — **Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez on the red carpet of the 2020 Golden Globe Awards. Jennifer was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her work in ‘Hustlers’ [AP Images].**

They continued to show off their love on red carpets into the new year, attending both the Grammys and the Oscars together. In March 2019 — about one month after their second anniversary — they took a trip to the Bahamas together, where A-Rod proposed with a gorgeous diamond ring that jewelers have valued at $5 million. But due to the ongoing pandemic, Jennifer and A-Rod postponed their 2020 wedding.

Jennifer even joked about faux weddings here and there — even a TikTok ceremony! — but after their stunning engagement party in Sept. 2019, it appeared as though two were just taking the time they needed while working through their busy schedules. But maybe there was trouble in paradise?

Then, in March 2021, there was that report of a breakup. A-Rod and JLo did their best to reassure everyone that they were still together. A-Rod said he was definitely “not single.” JLo mocked the media reports about their alleged breakup. The baseball icon even joined Jennifer in the Dominican Republic, where she was filming a new movie so that they could spend time together. JLo even mocked the media reports about her breakup in an Instagram video, so it seemed that these two would weather this storm. That sadly was not the case.