Jennifer Lopez now ‘understands marriage’ as she prepares for wedding number 4 to Alex Rodriguez

Jennifer Lopez has admitted that she now ‘understands marriage’ after previously being married three times.

The 50-year-old is currently engaged to baseball player Alex Rodriguez, 44, after two years of dating, and now JLo has realised that marriage is a lot more ‘than just falling in love and sharing a home’ while revealing it was a ‘surprise’ when Alex proposed to her. Speaking to The Sun, she said: ‘I think I’ve understood that marriage takes a lot more than just falling in love and sharing a home.

‘Alex and I had a connection from the very beginning and maybe could see a future for ourselves. ‘We talked about it a few times. But when he proposed it was a ­surprise for me. We love each other, love being around each other and have a lot of respect for each other. That’s a big part of it.’

She also admitted that the two of them ‘show up for each other’ and it is a ‘big deal’ for a relationship, and they make a ‘huge effort’ to be in each other’s lives. Before Alex, Jennifer was previously married a total of three times.

The singer and actress was married to Cuban waiter Ojani Noa between 1997-1998, and later backup dancer Cris Judd from 2001-2002.

Her third marriage was with singer Marc Anthony, with the pair marrying in the summer of 2004, before announcing their split in 2011. The couple, who share two children, finalised their divorce in 2014.

Jennifer also spoke about her latest movie Hustlers, in which she plays the role of a stripper named Ramona Vega, and how she was able to perfect the role by dancing at home – in her knickers, of course.

As she spoke about her pole-dancing lessons, she revealed: ‘When I first started, the instructor comes over and tells me, “You have to take off a lot of your clothes because your skin has to stick to the pole. You’re going to be in your bra and underwear.”