By Jessica Wedemeyer
8:18am PDT, Mar 14, 2019
Wonderwall.com is taking a look back at the stars who found love, suffered heartbreak or experienced some other major event in their love lives in mid-March 2019, starting with one of our favorite power couples… Alex Rodriguez popped the question to Jennifer Lopez on the beach at Baker's Bay in the Bahamas on March 9. The duo took to Instagram to announce their engagement and to show off J.Lo's massive engagement ring. "She said yes," the former baseball star captioned one pic. The singer-actress shared the same shot, captioning it with several heart emojis. On March 12, Page Six reported that, according to a source, A-Rod actually spent seven months hunting down "the right ring" — a 16-carat diamond sparkler from abroad that reportedly set him back $1.8 million. "He knew for a long time that he wanted to propose to Jennifer," said the insider. "He wanted to get it right. The proposal has been a long time coming, Alex knew she was the one and has been painstakingly planning everything. But when it came to the big moment, he didn't tell anyone, none of his friends or family. … He wanted it to be quiet and personal." Also on March 12, Alex took to his Instagram Story to gush about getting engaged and to thank his fans for their congratulatory words: "There aren't many words to share with you, only feelings. Gratitude. Excitement. And just … joy. We know there is work to do to keep building a family and future we can be proud of, and we can't do it without all of you. We are so thankful for all your messages of love and congratulations," he wrote. But not everyone was thrilled for the power couple….
RELATED: New celebrity couples of 2019
On March 10, Jose Canseco took to Twitter to accuse Alex Rodriguez of cheating on Jennifer Lopez with his ex-wife, Jessica Canseco, whom he divorced in 1999. "Watching World of Dance watching J.Lo text Alex Rodriguez little does she know that he is cheating on her with my ex-wife Jessica poor girl she had no idea who he really is. … I was there a few months back with her when he called her on the phone," the former professional baseball player tweeted. He then challenged his fellow former Yankee "to a boxing match or an MMA match anytime you want" and tweeted a phone number for J.Lo to call him "if you want the truth about Alex Rodriguez." He concluded by offering to take a polygraph "to prove what I'm saying about Alex Rodriguez is 100% accurate." Though Jennifer and Alex ignored the accusations, Jessica took to Twitter to shoot them down. "Those false accusations Jose is making are not true!🖐🏻I have known Alex for many years and haven't even seen him for over 5. I certainly did not sleep with him. I am friendly with both him and Jennifer. As for Jose he can keep playing with his Alien friends," she tweeted on March 12, adding that the last time she saw Alex, he was still with ex-girlfriend Torrie Wilson, from whom he split in 2015. "I brought my boyfriend over for dinner. We are just friends my god," she concluded. According to an Us Weekly source, J.Lo and A-Rod were unbothered by the cheating claims. "She's heard the cheating rumors in the past and has never let it bother her," said the insider. "She trusts him and his love. They are inseparable and together almost all of the time. Jose Canseco has an ax to grind, but she doesn't hear the noise." Said another source, "Jose doesn't know what he's talking about. His tweets aren't true."
RELATED: Notorious celeb cheating scandals
Lea Michele and Zandy Reich, who got engaged in April 2018, tied the knot in Northern California on March 9. "We are so excited to be married and grateful to be surrounded by our friends and family," the newlyweds told People magazine. "And most of all, we're so happy to spend the rest of our lives together." On hand during the nuptials were the bride's "Glee" co-stars Darren Criss and Becca Tobin and her "Scream Queens" co-star Emma Roberts.
RELATED: Celebrity splits of 2019
Colton Underwood and Cassie Randolph revealed on the March 12 finale of Season 23 of "The Bachelor" that they're dating (but aren't engaged) after he successfully wooed her following her decision to leave the show during Fantasy Suite night. (He subsequently dumped his remaining potential loves, Hannah Godwin and Tayshia Adams, to pursue her.) "I'm so in love, and I'm ready for everyone to know it," Colton told People magazine following the big reveal. "I came on 'The Bachelor' wanting to be madly in love when I left, and that's exactly what happened," he added, explaining that though Cassie "doesn't have a ring on her finger yet," he hopes that she will "one day." Added the speech pathologist, "We definitely talk about our future engagement. … We're both excited to get to that point." Colton also revealed that he moved from Denver to Los Angeles to be closer to his "girlfriend." But they're not moving in together yet. "Our goal is to buy a house in Huntington Beach [in California] in the next year, but we probably won't move in together until we're engaged or married," he said. "As much as I want her to live with me, it's a big step and something we both take very seriously."
Meanwhile, during a March 12 chat with "Extra," Hannah Godwin admitted that she was "shocked" and "felt so blindsided" when Colton Underwood dumped her (along with Tayshia Adams) to pursue Cassie Randolph on the finale of Season 23 of "The Bachelor." Said the blonde beauty, "I feel like I had no reason to think it wasn't him and I at the end of this. I thought I was going to be engaged, so I was mentally ready, and I thought he was my person and I thought he felt the same, so hearing that he thought about Cassie while he was possibly looking me in the eye … that's hard and that's a slap in the face. … It bruised my heart, not gonna lie." Added Hannah, "Just because things didn't work out the way I wanted them to doesn't mean I'm angry or bitter — confused, yes, but I can't be mad at somebody for not loving me back. It's just not how it works." She went on to say she's open to the prospect of becoming the next Bachelorette: "I think I am open to any possibilities of love. I was so close to getting that and throughout this whole experience it showed me how much I do want that," she said.
In other Bachelor Nation news, ABC announced on March 12 that Hannah Brown, who competed for Colton Underwood's heart on Season 23 of "The Bachelor," will be the next star of "The Bachelorette." The former beauty queen told People magazine of the prospect of finding love on TV, "It didn't happen for me my first time around, but I do believe that it can happen. I'm so grateful and honored that people saw my heart … and hopefully somebody will share their heart with me. … I'm hopeful for it."
Chance The Rapper married Kirsten Corley at the Pelican Hill resort in Newport Beach, California, on March 9. Among their 150 wedding guests were Kim Kardashian West, Kanye West and Dave Chappelle. The longtime couple, who share 3-year-old daughter Kensli and got engaged on the Fourth of July in 2018, legally tied the knot late last year. According to the Chicago Tribune, they wed in a civil ceremony at the Cook County clerk's office in Chicago on Dec. 27.
Princess Beatrice and her rumored boyfriend, property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, made their official public debut as a couple at the Portrait Gala at the National Portrait Gallery in London on March 12, 2019.
Things are getting serious between Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev. The duo were photographed packing on the PDA — and kissing! — at lunch in Los Angeles on March 10. The former "Dancing With the Stars" partners, who also made headlines for a late-February date night, were first linked in January after spending time together over the holidays.
Ben Affleck referred to Lindsay Shookus as his "girlfriend" — confirming previous reports that the former couple are officially back on — during a March 11 encounter with an X17 photographer in Los Angeles. "Stop taking pictures of my girlfriend," he said during a dinner date with the "Saturday Night Live" producer. Said an X17 source of the rekindled couple, "Ben feels like he's made huge strides in his sobriety and deserves to be happy with Lindsay, but his sober coaches and friends in the recovery community are pretty steadfast that it's better to not be in a relationship for the first year of recovery. They think there's too much potential for heartbreak and upsetting emotions, which can often lead to relapse. Ben doesn't want to lose Lindsay, though, so he's taking it one day at a time."
Pete Davidson referenced his relationship with Kate Beckinsale — and their 20-year age difference — on the March 9 episode of "Saturday Night Live." After Colin Jost asked him about his "new girlfriend situation," the 25-year-old comedian said, "Apparently people have a crazy fascination with our age difference, but it doesn't really bother us. But then again, I'm new to this." He then suggested that "if you have questions about a relationship with a big age gap," just ask any of the men in Hollywood who've dated much younger women to explain how they make it work. He then proceeded to list several male A-listers with much, much younger lady loves.
During an interview for the cover of WSJ. Magazine's March 2019 Men's Style Issue, which hit the Internet on Feb. 25, Mark Ronson revealed that he's "in a relationship" with a woman he referred to as his "girlfriend." Said the hitmaker, "It's good. I'm dating a nice girl." (He was photographed holding hands with "Saturday Night Live" talent executive Rebecca Schwartz in New York City on March 3.) The Oscar-winning music producer, who divorced model-actress Josephine de la Baume in 2017 following six years of marriage, told WSJ. that his upcoming fifth album, "Late Night Feelings," is a breakup album: "It wasn't conscious — I wasn't like, 'OK, I'm gonna make this my breakup album,'" he said. "I don't want to seem exploitative. [My ex has her] own pain and trauma. Both of us are… living it. The simple fact of the matter is I was going through these things, and I had to make a record. They were gonna collide at some point. … This was writing from the point of view of an emotion first, then figuring out the beat. What's funny is this is my most melancholy record but my most consistently dancey record." He also said that he and Lady Gaga wrote their hit song "Shallow" from "A Star is Born" while his marriage was collapsing and while she was in the process of breaking up with her ex-fiancé, actor Taylor Kinney. "We were all going through relationship [problems]," he said. "Everybody was willing to bring their troubles to that song. … [Writing it was] like therapy, even though there's so much hurt in this song." Finally, Mark revealed that he can't listen to music while he's physically intimate with a woman because he would be too distracted thinking, "I wonder how they got that snare drum sound."
Jeff Lewis is moving on following his January split from Gage Edward after nearly a decade of coupledom — even though he says his therapist told him that he "cannot be in a relationship for a year." On the March 12 episode of his SiriusXM radio show, the "Flipping Out" star revealed that he recently had his third date with a chiropractor who's asked that he keep their relationship private. "I can't say what happened [during the date] because that's a boundary that I'm not allowed to cross," he said. (On a previous episode of his radio show, Jeff said that the chiropractor set "a rule" stipulating that "anything romantic or sexual stays between us." The mystery man also asked Jeff to refrain from discussing their dates on "Jeff Lewis Live!") Jeff went on to say that he hasn't been impressed by the chiropractor's restaurant choices so far but has kept his mouth shut to avoid seeming high maintenance. "I don't want to be high maintenance. I want to be an accommodating guy," he said. "I don't want him to know yet how high maintenance I really am. He needs to fall in love first before he realizes how I really am. We all do that. In three months, I will be real Jeff. But right now, I am fake Jeff. … At what point can I just be honest? I don't want to be [a jerk] and it's emasculating." Jeff then said that he and the chiropractor had a "great date" and revealed that they have a fourth date planned for March 17. He then slipped up — revealing that he and the chiropractor engaged in some sort of bedroom activity — while discussing the issue of dogs jumping up on the bed. "This is where I have to be really careful," he said. "This is a slippery slope for me and I have a boundary to respect. … Don't ruin this relationship for me!"
Jaden Smith was photographed kissing a mystery woman on a hotel balcony in Paris on March 5. The rapper-actor hasn't been linked to anyone publicly since he alleged that Tyler, the Creator was his boyfriend in late 2018.
Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy's wedding date is fast approaching. The bride-to-be had her bachelorette party in Las Vegas on March 5. She celebrated her impending nuptials with fellow "Dancing With the Stars" professional hoofers Witney Carson, Britt Stewart, Hayley Erbert, Lindsay Arnold and Emma Slater during a break between stops of the "Dancing With the Stars: Live!" tour. "I have the BEST girlies in the whole wide world. They somehow managed to throw me the most epic bachelorette party on the road… including surprising me by taking me to see @absinthe_vegas and then transforming our bus into a GIRLS ONLY party bus. I feel so grateful to have these beauties in my life!!!!!" Jenna captioned an Instagram slideshow depicting the festivities. It's unclear when exactly she and Val, who got engaged in June 2018, will tie the knot, though she posted on Instagram on March 3 that the wedding will be sometime after the March 9 conclusion of the "Dancing With the Stars: Live!" tour. On March 12, she took to Instagram to share a photo of herself during a 24-hour trip to New York City to have her wedding dress fitted. "Ahhhhhh!! It's actually happening," she wrote in the caption.
On the March 12 episode of "Good Morning Britain," Katharine McPhee opened up about her age-defying romance with her fiancée, David Foster, who's 35 years her senior. "I know I'm the woman to tame the beast," she said of her husband-to-be, who's been married four times before. "We both have some similar qualities. We both have tamed each other," she continued. "We obliviously know we have a big age difference. … In America, they like to write about us and talk about us, and we understand it. We get it. But we have such an amazing, long history. We met when I was a contestant on 'American Idol' [in 2006]. … We've always had huge respect and admiration for each other, and he always had a thing for me for a long time. It took me a long time to come around. He doesn't like that part of the story."
Salma Hayek opened up about her marriage with Francois-Henri Pinault during an interview with Town & Country that hit the Internet on March 6. "A lot of people are very shocked that I married who I married. And some people are even intimidated now by me," she said. "But it's another way of showing racism. They can't believe this Mexican ended up in the life that she has, and they're uncomfortable around me." The Oscar winner refused to tell the magazine how she met the billionaire: "I'm not going to tell you," she said. "It's such a romantic, amazing story, but it is mine. I don't want to vulgarize it by making it into a story to make myself interesting." She then called her hubby "the best husband in the world." Said the actress, "I get to be who I am with him, and I don't feel that somebody tries to limit me."
Gwyneth Paltrow opened up about marriage and divorce on the March 12 episode of the "Today" show. "I guess if you'd asked me a couple of years ago I probably would have leaned towards not getting married again, but then sometimes life just surprises you and it's been really fun. I'm so happy that I was sort of given this other opportunity," she said of marrying her second husband, Brad Falchuk, in September 2018. Of her relationship with her first husband, Chris Martin, Gwyneth said, "Both Chris and I have made a commitment to continue to love the things about each other that we've always loved and to really continue to develop our friendship and to find ways to continue to communicate. There's been a long process to it, at some point maybe I'll write a book because you really have to focus on forgiveness and spite that comes up, you have to let it go. … It's definitely not effortless, but now at this point, five years later, it's pretty good, but the first couple of years it was very effortful and for the sake of the children, we were really committed to maintaining the family structure … even though it looked a bit different."
During an interview with Us Weekly that hit the Internet on March 3, Anna Paquin opened up about her marriage to Stephen Moyer. "We're each other's best friends," she said. "We're incredibly lucky that we found each other." Continued the actress, "We want nothing but good things for each other. … His successes are my successes and vice versa and we're just really lucky."
On March 11, People magazine published an exclusive statement from Wendy Madison Bauer in which she expressed her gratitude for the support she's received in the days since her fiancé, Luke Perry, died on March 4. In the process, she revealed that she and the late "Beverly Hills, 90210" star had been together for more than a decade. "The past 11 and a half years with Luke were the happiest years of my life, and I am grateful to have had that time with him," she said. (Most of the world was unaware of the fact that the super-private actor was engaged until his rep released a statement announcing his death and confirming that he passed away surrounded by friends and family, including his fiancée.) On March 13, TMZ reported that the "Riverdale" star actually planned to marry the therapist later this year. The webloid published a photo of the couple's save-the-date for their nuptials in Los Angeles on Aug. 17, 2019. It's unclear when exactly they got engaged.
During an interview for the cover of the April issue of InStyle, which hit the Internet on March 12, Ciara said that she knew her husband, Russell Wilson, was "the one" not long after they started seeing each other. "We both knew," she said. "We both had that light-bulb moment." The singer gushed of the football star, "He's my sounding board for pretty much everything I do in my life. He doesn't want to see me fail. He's got my back. That's an awesome feeling." She then dished on their decision to abstain from sex until marriage: "That took a lot of prayer," she said. "It was hard. I can't lie." It also took a lot of prayer and hard work "getting myself right" before Ciara could move on from her ex-fiancé, rapper Future. "If you want to get somewhere in life, you've got to have a compass. You've got to know where you really want to get to. And my heart, soul, spirit, and mind just desired to be loved. To be truly loved the right way," she said. "I knew I didn't want to cry tears of hurt anymore. I didn't want to keep going around in circles."
