Nearly 20 years have passed since Ben Affleck first proposed to Jennifer Lopez in November 2002: green, which Lopez says is her "lucky color."

The multi-talented dancer, actress, and singer announced their engagement Friday night via her newsletter, On the JLo, despite the fact that Lopez had made a big splash earlier in the week when she was spotted wearing the ring in public. Before breaking the news, Lopez took to Twitter to announce that she had a "big announcement" to make, "So I have something really exciting and special to tell you..." and added a diamond ring emoji to her Twitter handle. (British Vogue reported that while emeralds have become popular among brides in recent years, "green diamonds are special and one of the rarest of fancy diamonds."

In a previous newsletter, Lopez elaborated on her love of green and what it means to her, saying, "I always say that green is my lucky color. Maybe you remember a certain green dress," she said, referring to the iconic jungle-print Versace gown Lopez wore to the 2000 Grammy Awards. I've noticed that there have been many moments in my life when great things have happened when I've worn green." Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe it's not. But upon closer inspection, I realized that there is no such thing as coincidence"

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Known as the then infamous code word "Bennifer" even before they became engaged in late 2002, they were the "it couple" of the time and their relationship was under a lot of pressure, postponing their September 2003 wedding shortly after, and finally breaking up in early 2004 . After their divorce, Lopez married singer Marc Anthony, with whom she had twins Emme and Max, and Affleck married actress Jennifer Garner, with whom he had children Violet, Serafina, and Samuel. Lopez and Affleck reunited romantically during the pandemic and became a couple again last summer.

"I don't think anyone was as surprised as we were," Lopez said on Ellen DeGeneres' eponymous talk show while promoting her latest film, aptly titled Marry Me. 'You couldn't imagine something like that happening. It's a beautiful thing."

Affleck, for his part, told WSJ. magazine in December that he felt "lucky" to have been given a second chance at both his professional and personal life.

"I've had second chances in my career. I had a second chance as a human being. Life is difficult, we make mistakes all the time and hopefully learn from those mistakes." You really need that second chance to take advantage of the opportunities that come from that growth. I have definitely tried to take advantage of that. I haven't always succeeded, but in the cases where I have, it has defined my life."

He has yet to say anything about his marriage plans.