Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony: Harmony over for the pop star couple

When Jennifer Lopez secretly tied the knot with Marc Anthony in June 2004, it seemed she had finally found 'the One'.

After a string of high-profile relationships - including an engagement with Ben Affleck and a rollercoaster affair with P Diddy - the star rekindled her friendship with Marc at the start of 2004 and embarked on an altogether less-public romance

A multi-Grammy award winning artist, Marc shared a great deal in common with the star.

Both were from Puerto Rican backgrounds and were raised in New York, and, of course, both understood the pressures of the music industry.

But it was also their differences that made the relationship work. "He makes me slow down," said Jennifer in 2006.

"We have different philosophies. I've been so disciplined. His process is 'Chill, don't kill yourself".

Fans were overjoyed to see their heroine so happy.

Luckily, no one could see far enough down the road to warn that those differences would later drive them apart....

The path to love with salsa idol Marc had not been smooth.

On February 22, 1997, Jennifer walked down the aisle for the first time, marrying Cuba-born waiter Ojani Noa.

But the union was not to be, and in January 1998, the couple divorced

Her next relationship was with hip-hop mogul Sean Combs – P Diddy.

They dated for two-and-a-half years, a romance that was closely followed by the media given the pair's megastar status.

But the high-profile affair came to an end in 2001 after they were both arrested over a nightclub shooting in New York

Of her relationship with the rap mogul, Jennifer later admitted: "It was very fast, but we did have a connection.

"We did fall in love and we were very close. But my relationship with him was always something I knew would end.

"It started out as something very pure and innocent. But it did get ugly - it did get sordid"

Jennifer's second marriage was to her former back-up dancer Cris Judd.

The pair met while filming the music video for her single, Love Don't Cost A Thing, and exchanged vows on September 29, 2001 in LA.

But less than a year later, the couple separated - although the official divorce didn't come through until January 2003

Then, in July 2002, Jennifer became one half of Hollywood's most high-profile couple when she started dating Ben Affleck.

The stars met at the end of 2001 on the set of the critically-panned Gigli and quickly became a tabloid favourite when their romance went public the following summer.

By November, they were engaged after Ben proposed in a "traditional but also very spectacular way" with a pink solitaire diamond ring

But days before their much-anticipated nuptials in September 2003, the superstar couple – dubbed Bennifer –  called off their big day.

"Due to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we have decided to postpone the date," they said in a statement.

"When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate decoy brides at three different locations, we realised something was awry"

From that point on the writing was on the wall for the couple, and in January 2004 they confirmed the end of their engagement.

"I don't think I've ever been heartbroken in that was before," Jennifer later said of the split.

"When you go through that kind of heartbreak in front of everybody you are not quite the same person you were before."

From then on the Latin temptress determined to do things differently...

Jennifer embarked on a whirlwind romance with Marc - but kept it very quiet.

The pair had briefly dated in the late 1990s, and the flame was reignited when they sat down to record a track for Shall We Dance at the start of 2004.

"It really was the same chemistry and connection we had at the very beginning," Jennifer later recalled.

"That's when we knew – we'd matured enough, seen enough and lived enough to know that we were wasting our time not being together," Marc added

At that time, Marc was in the midst of divorce proceedings from former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres.

They had wed on May 9 2000 in Las Vegas, and had two sons together – Cristian, born February 2001, and Ryan, born August 2003.  Marc also has a teenage daughter from an earlier relationship

It was a rocky marriage, and in early 2002 the couple separated, only to later reconcile and renew their vows in December 2002.

But by October 2003, it was all over and in January, Dayanara filed for divorce

Less than one week after the divorce was finalised, Marc and Jennifer stunned the world when they married in a secret and very private ceremony at the home on June 5, 2004.

In contrast to her previous high-profile relationships, Jennifer had not even publically acknowledged her romance with the singer

While the newlyweds preferred to keep their relationship out of the headlines, their love was clear for all to see.

Throughout their marriage, they frequently mixed business with pleasure – Marc collaborated with Jennifer on her first full-length Spanish language album in 2005.

And in 2007 they starred together in El Cantante, a film about Puerto Rican salsa singer Hector Lavoe

That same year, the couple took to the road together as they teamed up on tour.

It was during their last show that they confirmed the America's worst-kept secret – Jennifer was pregnant

In fact, she was expecting twins. On February 22, 2008, the star gave birth to daughter Emme and son Max

As other celebrity relationships fell by the wayside, Jennifer and Marc's romance seemed to go from strength-to-strength.

They were clearly very much in love and their public outings strengthened their reputation as one of LA's strongest couples.

None more so than when Marc arranged a series of surprise parties for his wife to celebrate her 40th birthday.

But behind the scenes there were strains.

In early 2009, the diva laughed off rumours of a split prompted by the fact that she wasn't wearing her wedding band. 

"Every time I'm not wearing my ring, people think I'm getting divorced,"  she quipped. "That's crazy! It just didn't go with the dress"

 

Speaking in the wake of their separation, her stylist Philip Bloch described Marc as "very controlling".

"In the beginning she liked that because he stood up to her, and in the early days he was very much in love with her and she was with him.”

There were disagreements, he added, about where they'd live. Jennifer was keen to stay in LA, where she felt her career could thrive.

Meanwhile, her other half preferred New York from where they both hailed. 

 

In public, though, they continued to put on a united front.

Whether on the red carpet, or enjoying family time away from the spotlight, they seemed blissfully happy to outsiders.

Certainly there were no signs of trouble when the American Idol judge joined Marc on stage at the series finale of the show in May 2011.

The pair put on a raunchy performance, ending with a passionate kiss that seemed to suggest husband and wife were more smitten than ever

The same was true the following month when Marc accompanied his wife to the unveiling of her Times Square billboard.

The pair publically kissed and cuddled at the June event, showing absolutely no signs that a split was on the cards.

But Jennifer had apparently cancelled plans to move to New York in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage and that was their last public appearance together

When Jennifer attended the Bafta Brits to Watch party in LA earlier this month with her mother Guadalupe, Marc's absence went largely unreported.

Many assumed that work or family commitments had meant the Latin singer has been unable to attend – certainly no one would have predicted the news that followed…

On Friday June 15 came the shock announcement that Jennifer and Marc had decided to split after seven years of marriage.

"This was a very difficult decision," the couple said in a joint statement. "It's a painful time for all involved and we appreciate the respect of our privacy at this time"