When Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner first got divorced in 2018, Affleck was famously photographed staring into the abyss of the Pacific Ocean, towel around his waist, with a multicoloured tattoo of a phoenix rising from the ashes covering his entire back. ‘You know what we would say in my hometown about that? Bless his heart,’ said Garner when she was asked about his mid-life crisis ink splurge by Vanity Fair. ‘Am I the ashes in this scenario? I refuse to be the ashes.’

Fast-forward seven years and the exes are in a very different place. Not only are they regularly pictured going to and from each other’s houses, laughing and chatting on the street and spending time with their three children, Violet, 19, Fin, 16 and Samuel 13, but Affleck and Garner have taken to spending Christmas and Easter together too.

Last Saturday, Affleck was pictured doing a big food shop at World Market with Samuel, and on Easter Sunday Garner and Samuel were seen driving away from Affleck’s home in Brentwood, California. It is thought that they spent the day together with their son – something they have become renowned for since Affleck’s highly publicised divorce from Jennifer Lopez last summer.

Now, this does not by any means confirm they are getting back together, even if Affleck has a reputation for returning to ex-girlfriends. Despite tabloid rumours repeatedly arguing that Affleck ‘would love another chance’ with Garner, they have been written off as ‘ridiculous’ by both parties. Not only is Garner in a relationship with Californian businessman John Miller, who she has been dating on and off since 2018, but the pair are just ‘co-parents’. Good old-fashioned Hollywood co-parents.

The pictures of Affleck with his arms around Garner during a game of paintball for their son’s birthday last month didn’t help matters, but when you watch the pictures in video form, they are far less incriminating. What became ‘evidence’ that the exes were getting back together was actually just a brief moment of tactility before Garner took her shot.

With a combined star power like theirs, it’s no wonder Affleck and Garner are constantly battling romance rumours, even when ‘sources’ (their reps), their respective relationship statuses and common sense suggest otherwise. Affleck knows that more than anyone. He spent the best part of 2024 dealing with unrelenting media attention surrounding his marriage to Lopez and since then he is ‘tied’ to a new woman every fortnight – none of which have materialised.

The same is true with Garner. They share three children together so have always maintained a relationship – even Affleck did date their nanny shortly after their divorce – and have grown particularly close in the past year following Affleck’s second divorce. However, the exes are never spotted on sultry dinner dates or frolicking in their swimwear on a yachting holiday, instead Affleck is usually wearing a chunky ‘dad’ cardigan and Garner is usually in gym leggings. They are usually with their children and most often these elusive ‘sightings’ are of them entering or exiting a family car. With that in mind, their decision to join forces for Easter should hardly come as a surprise.  

Only last month during his cover interview with GQ did Affleck praise Garner for the relationship they have fostered in the past seven years. ‘I’m really lucky that I have a really good co-parent and partner in Jennifer Garner,’ he said, ‘the kids’ mom, who’s wonderful and great and we work well together.’

The truth is their dynamic is far from salacious – other divorced couples should take heed. Whether they like it or not, any exes who share young children are still ‘partners’ to an extent. They have a shared love of their children, of course, but they also share responsibilities and have a duty to have a functioning relationship for the sake of the family. For all their faults, or rather all Affleck’s faults, let’s be honest, this is clearly something this former duo understands.

In Affleck and Garner’s case, they are also famous whether they like it or not, which means any comments they have made about each other in the past can be plucked out of context at a moment’s notice. Sure, Affleck called his divorce from Garner ‘the biggest regret’ of his life, but that was said just after their divorce was finalised in 2018 when he was in the midst of his third stint in rehab – and it was reportedly Garner who staged an intervention and drove him there.

In the same Vanity Fair interview where Garner joked about Affleck’s phoenix tattoo, she also called him ‘the love of her life’ and said she would happily do their relationship all over again. ‘You can’t have these three babies and so much of what we had,’ she explained. ‘He’s the love of my life.’ Said in 2018, this was also the first interview she’d done since their divorce, and even if she was already dating Miller at this point it can’t have been for long. Of course her husband of more than 10 years was going to be ‘the love of her life’ at that point.

Then there’s the easily forgotten reality that celebrities are dramatic people. They might be scuttling from car to car in their baseball caps now, but Affleck and Garner are movie stars. Fame is a prison of their own making. Having paparazzi photographers hide out in the bushes with long lens cameras to take pictures of their son’s paintballing party is not exactly a fair trade off, but it is one they have little choice but to accept.

Luckily, that also means they are more than adept in ignoring baseless rumours – and celebrating Easter Sunday with their family just like everyone else.