Jennifer Lopez's old publicist said she and Ben Affleck are 'the real deal'

• Jennifer Lopez's former publicist said that the singer's relationship with Ben Affleck is "the real deal."
• Rob Shuter told Fox News that Lopez and Affleck always "had the right love, but it was at the wrong time."

Jennifer Lopez's former publicist told Fox News that the singer and Ben Affleck always "had the right love, but it was at the wrong time."

Rob Shuter, who worked for Lopez from 2003 to 2004 during the singer's first go at a relationship with Affleck, called the couple's current relationship "the real deal," and said they "have a strong chance of lasting as a couple."

"I don't think either of them would be this open about being back together if they weren't serious," he said.

He recalled writing and sending the breakup message that effectively ended Bennifer in 2004, after the pair canceled their wedding set for 2003.

"Before I hit send I just felt this genuine moment of sadness because I felt like these two were meant for each other," Shuter said.

In reflecting on their relationship to Fox, Shuter said that for a lot of Hollywood couples, work, combined with the intense media attention, is enough to effectively end a relationship.

He said this is what he believes happened for Lopez and Affleck, but thinks that now is the right moment for them to be together.

"Back when they were together, they were on every cover of every major magazine, week after week," he said. "But that hasn't happened now. The public is still interested in Bennifer, but the world's media has changed in the last decade. People are now consuming the news on the internet. I'm not diminishing their star power, but that same pressure isn't there. It's not as high risk. So they can enjoy themselves."

Shuter also predicted that it might not be long before a wedding.