J-Lo has ex-husband, Marc Anthony, to thank for overcoming her secret insecurities. Speaking to Cosmopolitan, she reveals:
“The biggest insecurity I had was my singing… Even though I had sold 70 million records, there was this feeling like, I’m not good at this. And while I was married to Marc, he helped me get over it. He kept telling me, ‘You’re the only one holding yourself back from reaching your full potential as a singer. You have to let go.’”
“I was always so insecure. Then I grew, little by little, and realised, wait a minute, this is not a fluke. I’m not a mistake – I work my ass off. And I know what I’m doing.”
Now radiating confidence, she wishes more women were self-assured:
“[Women] give away [their] power so much – even in love – with men. And it’s always looked down on in the world for women to be powerful – they get labelled as difficult or bitchy.”
She also has high standards when it comes to her boyfriend ‘Casper’ Smart, her 26-year-old choreographer boyfriend (who she calls Beau, his real name):
“For me, it’s about having a great partner to walk this life with. I have my own high standards for what I want in a partner and how I want to be treated. I bring a lot to the table. I’m not talking about the material things but what I have to offer as a person – love and loyalty and all the things that make a good relationship.”
Opening up about her love of clothes, she reveals she has an unusual obsession with packing for holidays or business trips; spending hours putting together outfits for everyone:
“I do it for Beau too… If we have a flight in the morning, I’m still packing into the middle of the night. I just like to play with clothes.”
Speaking about her younger sister Lynda, she comments on her complete admiration for her:
“I just love and respect her so much. She’s a single mom but not like I’m a single mom. I have a lot of help – she doesn’t. I always ask, ‘Do you need anything?’ And she’s like, ‘I’m good’. But I know she’s exhausted.”
Being the consummate professional, J-Lo’s party days are well and truly behind her as she reveals she’s never on the dance floor in the early hours of the morning:
“Once it gets past 12, I’m like, oh, it’s getting late. If you’re hanging around some after-party until the wee hours, how are you supposed to take five meetings in a row the next day?”
And it's refreshing to know even JLo gets annoyed at being ignored:
“It’s funny, early on with Beau, I remember telling him how I have a real button on being ignored. “And he was like, ‘Listen, if somebody ignores you, then forget them. They don’t deserve to have your attention.’ But it’s funny. Sometimes when we don’t get it, we try to get it in a negative way, you know?”
The full interview appears in the November issue of Cosmopolitan, on sale 3rd October.
