--- title: Jennifer Lopez Talks First Date with Alex Rodriguez on Ellen description: Find out how Jennifer Lopez and former Yankees star Alex Rodriguez met and started dating. canonical: https://time.com/4752531/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez-first-date-ellen/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-24T14:56:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:30.583Z og:title: How Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez Started Dating og:description: ‘It’s very simple' og:url: https://time.com/4752531/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez-first-date-ellen/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20bd82458b4cfe6d/6988ca618fd2ee4455356bac/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Celebrity Sightings in New York City - April 3, 2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez Started Dating twitter:description: ‘It’s very simple' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20bd82458b4cfe6d/6988ca618fd2ee4455356bac/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez Started Dating by [Stephanie Pettit / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Stephanie Pettit / People Contributor Apr 24, 2017 2:56 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 03: Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez leave the Solow Building on April 3, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images) NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 03: Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez leave the Solow Building on April 3, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)James Devaney—GC Images by [Stephanie Pettit / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Stephanie Pettit / People Contributor Apr 24, 2017 2:56 PM UTC [Jennifer Lopez](http://people.com/tag/jennifer-lopez/) may be one of the biggest stars in the world, but her children, 9-year-old twins [Max and Emme](http://people.com/babies/jennifer-lopez-marc-anthony-reunite-twins-max-and-emme-birthday/), certainly know how to steal the spotlight. During an appearance on _The_ [_Ellen DeGeneres_](http://people.com/tag/ellen-degeneres/) _Show_ airing Monday, the host asked if Lopez’s kids could join them onstage — although they were a little shy. Max immediately ducked behind a chair, while Emme took a seat on mom’s lap. DeGeneres pointed out that Emme’s sparkly animal print dress matched her mom’s outfit. “Me and Emme got dressed alike today” the 47-year-old _Shades of Blue_ star said. “She’s my mini-me.” Max, who had joined his sister on Lopez’s lap, decided he wasn’t done exploring and ended up hiding in the table situated between the chairs, where the talk show host often has people jump out of to surprise her guests. “Maybe you should get one of these at home,” DeGeneres joked. “Yeah, to keep him nice and quiet. This is the quietest he’s been in nine years,” Lopez responded, as Emme giggled at her brother having the top closed on him. Lopez also spoke about meeting her new boyfriend, [Alex Rodriguez](http://people.com/tag/alex-rodriguez/). “You don’t want to hear about all this,” the singer said, blushing, only to be met with cheers from the audience. Turns out, Lopez and the 41-year-old retired baseball star met in a pretty ordinary way. “It’s very simple. I was having lunch somewhere and I saw him. He passed by,” she explained. “Afterwards I went outside, but for some reason I felt like tapping him on the shoulder and said, ‘Hi.’ ” The duo started chatting about living in Los Angeles, and he eventually asked her on a date. “He texted me, said, ‘Let’s go out to dinner,’ and I said, ‘Okay,’ ” Lopez recalled. “We had a nice dinner.” Lopez, who gushed that Rodriguez is a “great guy,” shut down the idea that she slept over after the first date. “No,” she said. “Mama don’t sleep over on the first date.” The duo are back in the United States after spending the Easter holiday in the Dominican Republic. After [hitting the stage](http://people.com/music/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez-party-with-marc-anthony-dominican-republic/) with her ex [Marc Anthony](http://people.com/tag/marc-anthony/) at the Los Altos de Chavón theater, the songstress hosted a treat-filled [Easter brunch](http://people.com/music/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez-easter-celebration-details/) with her new boyfriend and their children. Lopez’s twins and Rodriguez’s daughters — Natasha, 12, and Ella, 8 — all participated in an Easter egg hunt (one golden egg contained a $100 prize and others held candy or smaller amounts of money) while digging into omelets, pancakes and pastries, a source previously told PEOPLE exclusively. “It’s so wonderful to blend the families and see them all getting along so well,” added the source. “They are really enjoying each other’s company and supporting each other in both family and work.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4752531/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez-first-date-ellen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4752531/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez-first-date-ellen/"},"headline":"How Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez Started Dating","datePublished":"2017-04-24T14:56:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:30.583Z","description":"‘It’s very simple'","url":"https://time.com/4752531/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez-first-date-ellen/","keywords":["motto","Alex Rodriguez","relationships","Romance","Jennifer Lopez"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20bd82458b4cfe6d/6988ca618fd2ee4455356bac/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Pettit / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20bd82458b4cfe6d/6988ca618fd2ee4455356bac/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Celebrity Sightings in New York City - April 3, 2017","caption":"Celebrity Sightings in New York City - April 3, 2017","creditText":"James Devaney—GC Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4752531/jennifer-lopez-alex-rodriguez-first-date-ellen/","name":"How Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez Started Dating"}}]}] ```