How often do you hear the news of a new celebrity relationship and think, “Huh, how did that happen?” Or, more commonly, did that celebrity’s publicist really think we’d find this pairing believable? It’s rare, however, when two celebrities come together for a romance, or possible long-term photo opportunity, and it all just makes sense. Enter: Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez.
It’s only been about a week or so that rumors about the pair have been a-swirlin’, but Jennifer all but confirmed the story with a now you see it, now you don’t Instagram post of the two of them cuddling on vacation somewhere expensive in the Bahamas. Something about this just works. Really, how has it taken this long for them to get together?
For starters both of them ended relationships with non-celebrities not too long ago. Alex with Anne Wojcicki—a Silicon Valley executive and ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin—and Jennifer with her former backup dancer Casper Smart. (I’m not counting Drake because I still don’t believe that was at all real.)
Though it was nice to see them each dating someone relatively normal, JLO and A-Rod strike me as the type of famous people who prefer to date other celebrities. On a more superficial level, they’re both attractive people and seem to take good care of their skin.
Both have net worths in the hundreds of millions of dollar which is great news for JLO, because although she can obviously buy her own rocks, she studied at the Elizabeth Taylor School of Getting Men to Buy You Very Large Diamonds.
A source told People Magazine that Alex has apparently always considered Jennifer his “dream girl,” which sort of sounds like bullshit but is also highly believable because who hasn’t had a crush on Jenny from the block? I know I have!
They also both strike me as the type of people who, if we’re being kind, like to be, uh, admired. Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
Though some might argue that’s a lot of ego for one relationship, it seems to have worked out pretty well for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West so far. Sometimes the only person who can understand a large ego is another large ego, and I imagine they’re more likely than others to entertain that quality in each other.
JLO and A-Rod are the type of celebrities who seem to enjoy some semblance of privacy, but understand the importance of the publicity machine far too much to go Kerry Washington or Julia Roberts-style. That whole Instagram fake-out is a perfect example. If they really wanted to keep things quiet, Jennifer wouldn’t have posted that damn picture. But she gave us just enough to keep the gossip world interested and poised themselves perfectly for some bigger, more lucrative relationship announcement.
Perhaps more than anything, without knowing either of them personally, I’d guess either only wants so much out of this relationship. Alex lives in Miami while Jennifer calls LA home for now. I doubt either of them is going to pack up and schlep their kids to a new city. Jennifer has already had more marriages than most and A-Rod didn’t seem to do a great job at his marriage.
No, this relationship provides them with just enough companionship for when both of their busy schedules allow, an even greater public interest in their personal lives and a built in power couple status that can only make them both more valuable. What else could they possibly need?