Ana De Armas on her relationship with Ben Affleck

Ana de Armas reflects on the media scrutiny that surrounded her highly publicized relationship with Ben Affleck.

But first, let’s rewind to March 2020, where our story begins.

While this particular month in history is perhaps best known for the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns, it also marks the conception of one of pop culture’s most memorable celebrity couples, Ben and Ana.

It is understood that the duo became friends while filming their thriller, Deep water. The movie wrapped up filming in early 2020, about a month before Ana and Ben first sparked dating rumors during a trip to Cuba in March.

And while the world as we knew it was put on hold amid national lockdowns, there was absolutely nothing stopping Ben and Ana – affectionately nicknamed BenAna – from reveling in the joy of their newfound love.

As you will probably recall, the couple have been constantly photographed throughout 2020 – often with their dogs, sometimes drinking iced coffee, always walk.

In fact, Ben and Ana have been snapped so many times during this time that they even appeared to pull a bizarre prank on the paparazzi when Ana enlisted the help of Ben’s three children to strategically plant a cardboard cutout of herself on the front lawn of her LA place home.

But joking aside, it really seemed like things were going well between the two and of course they were crowned quarantine’s it pair.

However, things finally fell apart in January 2021 when BenAna called it quits after almost a year of dating.

“Ben isn’t dating Ana anymore,” a source told People at the time, claiming their decision to split was “completely amicable.”

Fans had hopes for the duo, although their breakup seemed a done deal after a masked person — widely believed to be Casey Affleck — was photographed throwing the famous cardboard version of Ana in the trash outside Ben’s house.

During a recent interview with Elle, the actor looked back on the high-profile nature of their relationship, describing it simply as “terrible.”

“It’s one of the reasons I left LA,” she added.

“This is not the place for me,” she said, recalling her decision to leave LA. “It got a little too much. There is no escape. There is no way out.”

After living there for seven years, Ana described the city and its bright lights as a place “that scares you”.

Interestingly, at the time of Ana and Ben’s split, sources close to the former couple had cited Ana’s desire to leave LA as a trigger for their split.

“She broke it off,” the insider claimed. “Their relationship was complicated. Ana doesn’t want to live in Los Angeles and of course Ben has to since his kids live in Los Angeles.”

With that in mind, Ana’s recent comments offer fresh insight into her decision to split, and give us reason to believe the unwanted attention played a bigger role in the breakup than we’ve previously led to believe.

As for Ben, he eventually found love again with Jennifer Lopez. Needless to say, things are going pretty well for them too.