Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez working on their issues is ‘the best thing society can see right now’: expert
The singer and former MLB pro were seen kissing in the Dominican Republic last month after denying split reports
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EXCLUSIVE: Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez appear to remain on one another’s side while they continue working through issues in their relationship of four years -- and one relationship expert believes it to be a positive sign for the A-listers.
On Thursday, the international pop music sensation shared poolside photos of herself with her 13-year-old twins Emme and Max to Instagram from a villa Lopez, 51, had been crashing at in the Dominican Republic while filming her upcoming rom-com, "Shotgun Wedding."
Just a week ago, Rodriguez, 45, posted a picture to Instagram which appeared to be taken at the same pool in the sunny getaway.
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"Heading into weekend like..Hope you have a great one!" the former Yankees slugger captioned the photo of himself standing in the pool.
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Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez in happier times back in May 2018. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)
A source close to the pair told Fox News last week that the "Hustlers" star pressed Rodriguez to "fix" their relationship in the eyes of the public and against reports that the MLB broadcaster cheated.
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"Look – [Lopez] is busy shooting a movie, so she couldn’t go into damage control over headlines she had no hand in producing," the insider said.
When headlines of the bombshell split permeated the internet, reports suggested the story had broken so quickly that Lopez and Rodriguez’s children were shocked and hurt by the news.
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Lopez shares Max and Emme with her ex-husband Marc Anthony, while Rodriguez co-parents daughters Ella, 12, and Natasha, 16, with his ex-wife Cynthia Scurtis.
Putting his plan in motion, Rodriguez jet-setted down to the Dominican Republic with roses in tow, a move the insider said was a "test" to see if A-Rod "was really committed to the future" of his relationship with Lopez.
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At the time of the reports, Lopez and Rodriguez issued a joint statement calling reports that they had ended their engagement "inaccurate" while another source echoed to Fox News that the couple had indeed "hit a rough patch but are working through it," but further claimed a third party "did not contribute" to the couple's recent troubles.
Despite the questions surrounding the status of their relationship, Kimberly Holmes, CEO of Marriage Helper and a relationship expert, tells Fox News that JLo and A-Rod are taking the right steps that fractured couples should make in order to strengthen their relationship.
Jennifer Lopez, left, and Alex Rodriguez take a selfie as they 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 Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
"The fact that they’re actively and publicly working to repair their relationship in an era when splitting up appears easiest for A-list couples who are each successful in their own right is huge encouragement for a couple who has integrated much of their lives," she said.
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"With Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, they've been engaged for several years now. They have integrated their families together, their finances, their businesses. They really started to do the things to be committed to each other," Holmes said.
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"And they're not just throwing this away quickly because they really do have a lot tangled together with their lives. And not only that, their relationship is not only affecting their social identity but them personally and it's affecting the four children that they have integrated."
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The "Relationship Radio" co-host -- whose methods have saved 77% of the marriages she touches, according to her website -- maintained that "the best thing that society can see right now is two celebrities work to try and put something back together, especially when other people are involved and hurt by it."
Holmes also referenced the fact that Lopez and Rodriguez have yet to be married, which she believes also makes it easy for either party to have "one foot out the door."
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"They don't have that final level of commitment," Holmes said. "That final level of protection might even be another way to say it, which just solidifies their relationship together. And we see in America, especially how this can be really harmful to people because you start living like you're committed. But there's always kind of one foot out the door."
Regardless of what many might feel about Lopez and Rodriguez, Holmes says it isn’t up to the public to determine when or how they repair their relationship.
Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez reportedly called off their engagement and split in March 2021. Rumors began circulating that Rodriguez’s alleged tryst with Madison LeCroy, right, played a role in the reported split. (Getty Images)
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"We as lookers from the outside don't really get to make that decision," she said. "It could take months for them to really put it back together and, of course, we'll be able to see over the next couple of months, do they end up splitting up again? Are they continuing to actually try and work on it? But for people to rebuild all of those types of commitment, all of those levels of commitment, it does take time."
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The marriage consultant added: "But that's also the reason that commitment is so crucial for a long-term satisfying relationship, because it's something that isn't done quickly. It's something that's done daily over a period of time that builds trust, sustainability, and knowing that the other person is going to be there no matter what hard things come."