T.J. Holmes was among those hoping that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck would work things out.
After Holmes, 47, found out that Lopez, 55, filed for divorce on Tuesday, August 20, he texted girlfriend Amy Robach in the middle of the night to break the news.
“3:22 a.m. is when I messaged you,” Holmes said during the Thursday, August 22, episode of his and Robach’s “Amy & T.J.” podcast. “I messaged you, ‘Good morning. I am so sad. First thing on my phone is about J. Lo filing for divorce.’”
Holmes said that he didn’t believe any of the speculation about Lopez and Affleck’s marital woes leading up to the divorce filing and would “roll [his] eyes” whenever Robach, 51, tried to give him updates.
“It just sucks, man. This was it. This was one I could look at and go, ‘You know what, the timing wasn’t right … and then finally, the time is right, and this is it, and this is gonna work,’” Holmes said. “Damn, I was rooting for them.”
Lopez and Affleck, 52, initially got engaged in 2002 but called off their wedding in 2004. After nearly two decades and several marriages and divorces between them, the twosome reunited in 2021. They eloped in Las Vegas in July 2022 and had a larger wedding celebration on August 20, 2022, two years to the day before Lopez filed for divorce.
Robach recalled being on the set of GMA3 with Holmes and George Stephanopoulos the day after Lopez and Affleck tied the knot.
“We were excited, like, genuinely happy for the two of them. George Stephanopoulos, however, rolled his eyes and said, ‘I give it six months,’ something to that effect,” Robach shared.
Holmes said he “hate[s] that mindset” of waiting for love stories to fail.
“Almost [feels like] there’s glee in someone else’s demise and that pain,” he said, calling Lopez and Affleck’s split “heartbreaking.”
Robach also noted that she and Holmes can relate to the pain of having multiple divorces and putting in the work to create a blended family only to have it fall apart.
“Having lived through that personally, I know how painful it is, and no matter how much you want it to work … sadly, sometimes it just doesn’t,” she said.
Robach and Holmes were still legally married to Andrew Shue and Marilee Fiebig, respectively, when news of their romance broke in November 2022. The duo, who were both fired from their coanchor positions on ABC’s GMA3 amid the drama surrounding their relationship, have said they were both in the process of getting divorced when they became romantically involved.
Robach shares daughters Ava, 21, and Annalise, 18, with her first husband, Tim McIntosh, while Holmes shares daughter Sabine, 11, with Fiebig, 46, and daughter Brianna and son Jaiden with his first wife, Amy Ferson.
Lopez and Affleck both have children from previous marriages as well; Lopez shares twins Max and Emme, 16, with ex-husband Marc Anthony, while Affleck shares Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
