Jennifer Lopez shocks audience by admitting she was ready to 'give up' after third divorce during concert

Jennifer Lopez reflected about a painful time in her life as she returned to Las Vegas with her new residency The JLo Show: Up All Night Live on Friday night.

The 56-year-old singer stood on stage in a fuchsia sequin number with feather boa and stunned the audience when she admitted she was ready 'to give up on it all' following the end of her third marriage to Marc Anthony, 57.

The couple, who have 18-year-old wins Max and Emme, announced their separation in July 2011 after seven years of marriage, though their divorce wasn't finalized until June 2014.

The candid confession came when a breathless Lopez told the crowd she had 'a little story' to share in a video posted by @JPASC24.

'After my third divorce - that's when I really started getting good at it,' she said, chuckling a little as the audience reacted with hoots and hollers.

'Seriously that's not funny,' she added before doing a hair flip. 'It was actually a really tough time. I was really about to give up on it all. I mean, I was a single mom with two three-year-old twins,' said Lopez, who pushed herself to exhaustion preparing for her Vegas shows. 

Lopez went on, 'I called up one of my mentors. Her name was Louise Hay. Some of you might know who she was. She passed away. But she said to me, "Jennifer, you’re a dancer, right?" I said, "Yes, I am." She said, "When you're learning a dance and you get the steps wrong, what do you do?" I said, "I just keep going until I get the steps right." And she said, "That’s right, Jennifer. Always keep dancing."

'And I wish the same for each and every one of you that no matter what life throws at you that you dance and you dance and you dance again and again and again. I love you so much!' she concluded before strutting around stage in her glittery gown with her feathery wrap trailing by her heels.

She then launched into her 2012 hit Dance Again as the crowd picked up on the vibe and erupted in cheers.

It's a story Lopez has shared before. During her New Year’s Eve show, the mother-of-two reflected on this particular time in much the same way. No doubt it's become a regular part of her Vegas act.

Lopez's residency The Colosseum at Caesars Palace started with a batch of shows in January and picked up again this month with a final show scheduled on March 28.

As difficult as her split from Anthony was, Lopez has since said they maintain a close friendship and amicable co-parenting situation and are supportive of one another.

During her 2025 European tour, Lopez appeared to shade her other ex, Ben Affleck, 53, by performing new anti-love songs including Wreckage of You, which references 'scars' and 'broken parts' and 'the pain that you caused,' and Up All Night that includes the line 'I got tired of you breaking me down.'

Both songs appear to be lyrical swipes at Affleck, whose past struggles with alcoholism and stints in rehab are well documented.

Lopez told the crowd that she was done with marriage during her tour stop in Bilbao, Spain in July last year.

Her relationship with Affleck, famously dubbed Bennifer, began in early 2002 after meeting on the set of their movie Gigli.

They went public with their romance shortly after Lopez filed for divorce from second husband and backup dancer Cris Judd. The Bronx-born star and Good Will Hunting actor became engaged in November 2002.

But the couple postponed the wedding and finally broke up in 2004.

After nearly 20 years apart during which Lopez married and divorced Anthony, and Affleck married and divorced Jennifer Garner, they reunited and later wed in July 2022 before splitting up for good in 2024.

Lopez was first married to Ojani Noa from 1997 to 1998 and famously had a relationship to Sean 'Diddy' Combs from 1999 to 2001.

Meanwhile, Lopez recently revealed she has 'never' seen her singing career as a job.

She feels 'fortunate' to have such supportive fans, and she's delighted to be bring The JLo Show back to Las Vegas this month.

'I'm in my happy era and I have that in the show. I've never looked at it as a job. It's just what I love to do,' Lopez told Extra.

'And I just feel fortunate that I have these amazing fans who've supported me for so many years and there's so much love that I feel that I always want to be giving the love back to them. It's just been an incredible blessing in my life. I don’t know what I would do without it.'

Lopez also recently opened up about what she wants in a partner following her divorce from Affleck in January 2025 after two years of marriage.

In an Instagram post of Lopez's performance of her 1999 hit If You Had My Love at her Vegas show in January, she said, 'When I first sang it, I was very young. I was a little baby in the woods and I sang it with a lot of hope.

'But I’ve also sang it over the years. I've sang it while I was sad and I've sang it when I was happy. But now, today, you know how I sing it? I sing it in power.

'Because the truth is, if you wanted to have my love, you would have to earn it. You would have to treat me right. You would have to respect me.

'You'd have to accept me for all that I am. You'd have to love me if you wanted my love.'