Jennifer Lopez doesn’t need to get married to be "happy".
The 49-year-old singer-and-actress had an enlightening conversation about marriage with her 10-year-old daughter Emme – who has a twin brother Max – who told her at the age of eight that she doesn’t see herself tying the knot when she’s older, but when she was a child herself, the ‘Second Act’ star had a dream of being whisked off her feet by her "true love".
Jennifer – who has been dating Alex Rodriguez since 2017 – told the March issue of Red magazine: "I grew up with the fairy tale, ‘A prince is going save you’, ‘Wait for true love and that’s what makes you happy’, ‘If you’re not married, you’re not happy’.
"Well, let me tell you, my daughter is eons above me already."
Recalling their chat, she continued: "She said to me when she was eight, ‘I don’t know if I want to get married, mommy’.
"And when she said that I was like ‘Yes!’ because I’ve been teaching her to love herself since she was little."
Jennifer has been married three times before, was once engaged to ‘Gone Girl’ actor Ben Affleck for two years, and was previously in a five-year relationship with ‘Dirty Dancing’ star Casper Smart.
The ‘Shades of Blue’ actress was with her third husband Marc Anthony – the father of her children – for 10 years between 2004 and 2014.
The ‘On The Floor’ hitmaker was married to second husband Criss Judd between 2001 and 2003, and first husband, Cuban actor Ojani Noa, for under a year.
Jennifer has admitted that some of her relationships "didn’t serve" her and that learning to appreciate her own "worth and value" is something she preaches to herself and her children.
She said: "I feel like I’m in my second, third, or fourth act.
"I feel like I’ve lived several lifetimes already and I’ve had to figure myself out along the way, work out why I felt a certain way, or got into relationships that didn’t serve me.
"And I finally realised, ‘It’s me. It’s all me. I got to fix some stuff. I need to understand my own worth and value’."
When Jennifer became a mother, she wanted to do everything she could, including turning to religion and practicing yoga and meditation, to make sure she’s the best version of herself.
She explained: "Once I had my kids, I realised I had to be better,
"I had to do better. So I started doing a lot of work on myself.
"I started searching spiritually, religion, all of it.
"Self-help, life coach, meditation, yoga, more meditation.
"Different types of working out, just trying to find how do I be the best me? You’ve taken the knocks so your kids can be better, right?"
Jennifer also spoke of the importance of having an equal partner with the same "work ethic" like she does with Alex.
She said: "Both Alex and I are Latino. We are both self-made.
"He was always the hardest working baseball player that was – me, the same. We have that in common.
"We have the same work ethic.
"We also appreciate and know that coming from nothing, we always want to try to help and give back and teach our kids that."
The full interview appears in the March issue of Red, on sale 30th January.
Jennifer Lopez doesn’t need to get married to be happy
