Reality TV cast members are no strangers to a surprising celebrity connection; half the cast of Love Island know or are related to someone famous (hi Dani Dyer), Selling Sunset's Chrishell was quite literally married to Justin Hartley, and The Traitors season two winner Harry was (and still is) in a relationship with Conor Maynard's sister when he went on the show. For that reason, it shouldn't have come as such as massive shock when, on season one, Jen Affleck (of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) revealed she's related to *the* Ben Affleck.
Following the release of season two, however, Jen's connection to Ben is in question. So, what do we know about this Affleck crossover?
Who is Jen Affleck?
Jen Affleck is one of the main cast members of Hulu's series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which follows the lives of Utah's MomTok.
Jen is a 25-year-old TikToker and mum to two children—Nora and Lucas—and she's currently expecting her third with husband Zac Affleck.
What did Jen Affleck say about being related to Ben Affleck in season one?
In season one, Jen spoke about being related to Ben Affleck more than once, although she later revealed to People that she'd never actually met him. “Zac's dad has [met him], when [Ben] was very little,” she said. “I'm hoping to meet him one day, too!”
This prompted fans to put the pieces together themselves, concluding that Zac's dad is first cousins with the actor, making him a second cousin to Zac—with Jen related by marriage.
As well as name-dropping Ben several times in season one, Jen also spoke about the connection she shares with Jennifer Lopez, revealing the pair had the exact same name when Jennifer married Ben in 2022 (the couple have since filed for divorce).
Jen joked she is the original ‘Jennifer Affleck’ and added: “My name happens to be not only Jen, but Jennifer Lynn Affleck, which is the exact same as JLo. She went from Jennifer Lynn Lopez to Jennifer Lynn Affleck, which is so crazy.”
Is Jen Affleck actually related to Ben Affleck?
Despite *so* much being said about Ben in season one of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, all might not be as it seems, as a heated row between Jen and Zac in season two suggests there's no relation whatsoever.
“He is your second cousin,” Jen says to her husband in a season two episode, to which Zac replies: “No, he's not” Jen then argues that Zac's family had “told” her this information, adding: “You're not going to make me feel stupid when that's all I've been told from your family.”
In response, Zac says this “is not true,” going on to tell her: “I've heard that as a joke. No one's ever claimed to have some kind of relationship with him besides you.” Awkward!
In a private confessional shown after the scene, Zac elaborates on his side of the story, telling viewers: “I have no idea if I am or am not related to Ben Affleck. And that had been like a running joke in my family. It had never been something serious.”
He went on: “And so when Jen started telling people that, I did tell her, ‘I don't think you should say that anymore. I think that's going to backfire.’”
Erm, we're gonna need Ben to offer up some DNA to set the record straight on this one.
