Ben Affleck talked about getting sober, his relationship with his kids, and his on-again relationship with Jennifer Lopez in an open and honest interview with Howard Stern.

Ben Affleck, 49, is speaking out about how his rekindled flame with Jennifer Lopez, 52, almost didn’t happen. The actor made an appearance on The Howard Stern Show for an interview about his past and current life and admitted his three kids, including Violet, 16, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9, who he shares with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, 49, are the reason he hesitated to strike up a relationship with the singer again.

When asked if he had doubts before diving back into a serious romance, Ben, who got back together with J.Lo earlier this year -17 years after they ended their engagement -, told Howard, “It crossed my mind for sure. My responsibility to my children is the highest responsibility. I don’t want to do anything that is painful or destructive to them if I can help it.”

“That being said, I know that my life affects them,” he continued. “Me and their mom are celebrities and that is hard, let’s not bullsh*t each other right? That is a cross to bear. It is an albatross already. So, I have tried to live my life in a way, and then during the divorce they printed f*cking horrible lies.”

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Ben, who has been open about his struggles with alcohol in the past, also touched upon his journey to getting sober, and said that the way his kids looked at him at his rock bottom moment is what caused him to ultimately get the help he needed. “The cure for addiction is suffering,” he said. “You suffer enough before something inside you goes, ‘That’s enough.’”

“It was my kids. Since that day, I swear to Christ, I have not wanted to drink once,” he went on. “I am not cured. I am not a preacher, but there is a happy ending if you can get there.”

Ben also revealed what made him start drinking to begin with and explained why he and Jennifer took their time with getting a divorce. “Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped,” he said. “I was like, ‘I can’t leave because of my kids, but I’m not happy, what do I do?’ And what I did was [I] drank a bottle of scotch and fell asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution.”

“Ultimately, we tried, we tried, we tried because we had kids, but both of us felt like we didn’t want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage,” he added.

Since they started dating again, Ben and J.Lo have been seen on numerous outings with his kids and her 13-year-old kids, Max and Emme, who she shares with her ex Marc Anthony, proving they’re openly ready to share their lives as parents together.

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