How Jen Whipped Ben Into Shape

Cynics initially thought it was just a showmance, but Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez keep proving their love is the real deal

- Lindsay De Freitas

IT WAS like a ray of sunlight had beamed straight down from heaven and bathed him in a golden glow.

Gone was the bloated, sweaty, surly Ben Affleck of recent years who scowled more than he smiled and barked at photographers to leave him the hell alone.

This Ben was suave and chiseled, taut and trim in a Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo, once again the ruggedly handsome Holly­ wood hero people have been swooning over since the ’90s.

The occasion was a screening of his upcoming movie, The Last Duel, at the Venice Film Festival and all eyes were on him because it was the first red­carpet appearance for Bennifer since their rela­tionship crashed and burned in 2004.

And when Ben ushered Jennifer Lopez – smoking hot in a Georges Hobeika dress and enormous Cartier diamonds – out of the car, there was a kind of hush all over the world. The look he gave her. The way he laughed. The way he gazed into her eyes . . .

It was obvious: this was the real deal. Ben was hook, line, and sinker in love. The chemistry was so off the charts you just knew they were having great sex.

Even Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben’s ex, was moved to comment on the pictures as they flew around the world in a halo of aw­shucks happiness. “Okay, this is cute,” she said.