Jennifer Lopez’s biggest change

Most of the gossip about Jennifer Lopez has to do with her love life – and right now it’s speculation about whether or not she and Brett Goldstein might be a thing or if they’re just promoting Office Romance. Let’s come back to this in a minute because she’s actually coming up on a major life change that might have a bigger impact on her than whatever man she may or may not be falling in love with…

Her kids, Emme and Max, are now 18 years old. As she said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, one of them graduates from high school today. Both will be leaving home to go to university. And she’s been crying about this for two months.

JLo has been raising the twins as a single mother since 2011. And let’s be clear on this: she raised them. She has primary custody. The split is basically 75% to 25%. For 18 years we’ve seen them with her all the time. I can’t remember the last time we saw Max and Emme with their dad. Ahem, kinda like another very, very famous celebrity.

The reason she joined American Idol was because of her children – she was looking for stability and she needed to support the three of them. It ended up being one of the best decisions of her career because it kept her in front of audiences, consistently, with a schedule that allowed her to be present for her babies. And, obviously, the money was good. From there she was able to once again rebuild and pivot.

But the point is, for all the sh-t that gets said about her and how she’s perceived, she’s done right by the only two people who truly matter in her life. So she has some big feelings now that they’re about to go start living theirs, more and more independently.

JLo told Jimmy Kimmel that she for sure will be helping them move into their dorm rooms. She joked that she hopes they’ll be shocked by how small their living spaces are and want to come home. It’s cute, the way she’s laughing at herself, how emotional it’s been for her, confronting the reality that she won’t be with them, in person, all the time, a part of their day-to-day. JLo in 2026 will be an empty nester. And even though she’s so famous and has been for so long, I imagine her experience isn’t unlike other parents going through this transition. And, probably, the experience as a single parent is that much more unsettling.

For JLo, though, who has never stopped hustling, and who has had four lives, at least, as a celebrity, it’ll be so interesting to see whether or not she manages her career differently now that so much of her schedule isn’t dedicated to her kids. It’ll be interesting to see what opens up, what her choices will be. Because I think we all know by now that Jennifer Lopez will not be slowing down.

And then there’s the love life. Jimmy confirmed with JLo last night that she’s single. As I’ve mentioned before, this might be the longest stretch of single that we’ve seen from JLo, like, ever. It’s been just over two years. And the way she makes it sound, she wants it to be longer. Because when Jimmy asked her about being single, her whole vibe was that she’s really, really into it right now, enjoying it so much that she should have done it sooner. Which… is not the JLo we recognise. She says she’s open to another relationship, eventually, but the current message she’s putting out there, at least with her mouth, is that love is on pause.

So, basically, a rom-com trope: woman swears off love after too much disappointment, until she meets the man who will love her the way she’s always wanted to be loved.

Brett Goldstein, over to you!

Attached - JLo at Kimmel last night and later at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.