Celebrities' hilarious reactions to Bennifer 2.0

Singer Jennifer Lopez and actor Ben Affleck had been spotted on a romantic getaway recently. Photos: AFP and AP

When the news broke earlier this week that singer Jennifer Lopez, 51, and actor Ben Affleck, 48, may have rekindled their romance after 17 years, even their celebrity pals could not help but lap up the story.

Bennifer, as the couple were known in the early 2000s, were spotted on a romantic getaway to an exclusive ski chalet in Montana over the weekend.

Newly single Lopez had broken up with former baseball star Alex Rodriguez, also known as A-Rod, last month. When they were a couple, J-Lo and A-Rod were called J-Rod.

Affleck, also newly single, split up with actress Ana de Armas, 33, in January.

Lopez and Affleck, who broke up in 2004, had starred in romantic comedy Gigli (2003), which bombed at the box office. She also had a minor role in an Affleck movie, Jersey Girl (2004), which was directed by Kevin Smith, 50.

He tweeted: "'Bennifer' is trending. It's a name I first gave the kids during Jersey Girl pre-production, before the world found out they were dating.

"I'd later drop the name in an interview with the @nytimes. Shortly thereafter, it appeared in the article and then entered the vernacular."

Comedian Michelle Collins, 39, reposted a photo of Lopez and Affleck in a car during their trip and wrote: "J-Lo's been with him for like two weeks and he's hot as s*** again. I bet his phoenix back tattoo is slowly disappearing like the photo in Back To The Future."

Actress Sharon Stone, 63, then commented on the post: "Yeah I mean WTF A-Rod?"

Actress-singer Bette Middler, 75, took to Twitter to say: "#BenAffleck and #JenniferLopez might be back together? Aww. That's nice, but I was hoping that if we could bring anything back from the early 2000s, it would be my pelvic floor muscles."

Affleck's good friend, actor Matt Damon, 50, was asked on the Today show on May 11 about the ski trip, but professed not to know anything about it or the alleged romance.

"It's a fascinating story. I hope it's true. I love them both. That would be awesome," he said.

Comedian Chris Rock, 56, also cracked a joke about it on breakfast show Good Morning America recently: "I'm so happy Jennifer and Ben are back, so happy. Gigli 2. Are you guys excited?" – The Straits Times/Asia News Network