Jennifer Lopez and fiancé Alex Rodriguez ‘are focusing on their blended family’ amid split claims

Jennifer Lopez and her fiancé Alex Rodriguez are focusing on their four children as they try to ‘work on’ their relationship.

It was reported on Friday the couple had split over A-Rod’s friendship with reality star Madison LeCroy, 30, and they had gone their separate ways after four years together.

The couple have since denied the claims and insisted they are working on their relationship together, with Alex, 45, jetting out to the Dominican Republic to join J-Lo, 51, earlier this week.

The superstar pair are now said to be focusing on their blended family; the singer’s twins Emme and Max, 13, and A-Rod’s daughters, Natasha, 16, and Ella, 12. 

TMZ has claimed the split news came as a shock to the kids and they were ‘devastated’ by the idea of Jennifer and Alex ending their relationship.

On Friday, Jennifer shared a picture of her daughter Emme in tears as she was consoled by her father Marc Anthony, 52, and herself over a video call. 

A source said: ‘Neither of them expected news to break on Friday about the split, and as a result, they didn’t have time to prepare their 4 children, who’ve all grown very close.’

They said that the children ‘weighed heavily’ in the decision to work on their relationship and the conversation they had on Friday night. 

Another insider added: ‘There were many tears. The fact is, both families have blended as one, enjoying holidays and vacations together and all the other fun stuff kids do, so there’s a lot at stake.’  

Jennifer and Alex began dating in 2017 and announced their engagement in March 2019 during a getaway to the Bahamas, where he surprised her with a large diamond ring.

The superstar’s children had become very close to Rodriguez’s two daughters, Natasha and Ella, whom he shares with ex-wife Cynthia Rodriguez.

In 2018, Jennifer gushed their little ones ‘have become best friends’ and said she and Rodriguez ‘couldn’t have asked for anything better than the four of them getting along as they do.’ 

MailOnline has contacted representatives for further comment. 

A statement from the couple said on Saturday ‘we are working through some things’, and there was no third party involved in their issues. 

On Friday, Jennifer video called her ex-husband Marc and their crying daughter Emme, after the alleged split.

The singer took to her Instagram Story to share the emotional photo where she admitted: ‘When they are sad but momma and daddy are there.’

In the photo shared to her Instagram Story, Emme, whose twin brother Max was not pictured, could be seen crying into her father Marc’s arms as he comforted her.

Jennifer penned: ‘When they are sad but momma and daddy are there #coconuts,’ she added: ‘I love you!! So proud of you.’ 

J-Lo split from ex Marc Anthony in 2011 after seven years of marriage and they filed for divorce in April 2012.

The former couple continue to co-parent twins Emme and Max.

Alex jetted to the Dominican Republic to be with fiancée Jennifer on Monday, after the couple shot down rumours they had ended their engagement.

On his Instagram stories A-Rod, shared a clip of the view from his balcony in the Caribbean and captioned it: ‘Happy Monday. New week. New day. Onward. Upward.’

The former baseball player tagged Jennifer in the post. The actress has been filming her new movie Shotgun Wedding on the Caribbean island.

Reports emerged last week that the power couple had ended their engagement, with speculation that A-Rod’s friendship with Southern Charm star Madison was to blame.

Over the weekend the couple responded to the reports and confirmed they’re still together. 

That same day, A-Rod was pictured out in Miami, where he told reporters ‘I’m not single’.

A source claimed they had ‘hit a rough patch’ but were never fully broken up. They also denied the couple’s issues involved a third person.

The insider told People of the couple’s relationship: ‘They never officially broke up and talked about it but are still together. They hit a rough patch. But they were not broken up…

‘She’s working in the Dominican Republic and he’s in Miami so it’s tough seeing each other especially with quarantining and COVID but they want to try to stay together.’ 

The couple’s split allegations were widely reported by multiple news outlets, including Page Six and CNN, which cited close sources saying the couple had called it quits after the relationship had been on the rocks for some time.

It was claimed specifically by Page Six that Jennifer and Alex reportedly split over his alleged friendship with LeCroy

A source told the publication: ‘The Madison LeCroy scandal was the reason they finally broke up. There were already problems, but Jennifer was really embarrassed by it.’ 

The Bravo star, 30, was pictured out on Sunday in exclusive pictures obtained by Dailymail.com.

The blonde TV star dodged questions about the couple’s split when she was spotted leaving a gym in Charleston, South Carolina – despite repeated claims that she was the catalyst to ending the A-lister’s romance.

The explosive allegations had originally occurred during a recent Southern Charm reunion, where Madison claimed she had been in contact with a married and ex-MLB player. The name had been bleeped out.

During the episode, Madison was also accused of sleeping with the unidentified sports star but she denied ever seeing the man in person, although she did admit to DM-ing him.

Suspicions arose that the person could have been Rodriguez, despite him not being married and only engaged at the time to Jennifer.

Later, Madison revealed in an interview with Page Six she had been in ‘innocent’ communication with Rodriguez but that they had ‘never met up’ and only ‘spoken on the phone’.

‘That’s the truth,’ the reality star claimed, clarifying they had ‘never been physical… never had any kind of anything. Just an acquaintance.’

Madison also insisted that Rodriguez had ‘never physically cheated’ on Jennifer with her and that their phone calls had been ‘inconsistent’ and ‘random’. The reality star would not reveal what was discussed.

From the jump, Alex and Jennifer denied the Southern Charm star’s assertions and a source previously told DailyMail.com: ‘Alex has never met or spoken to Madison or anyone from the show.’

Jennifer and Alex have had to postpone their wedding twice due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and even as late as January this year, Alex admitted he can’t wait to marry Jennifer as he quipped ‘third time’s the charm’ as they prepared for the big day. 

He said: ‘We tried twice in 2020. We got bit twice by COVID-19. You know, they say in baseball, “Third time’s the charm,” so let’s hope. 

‘It’s been such a crazy year for her. So amazing. So many blessings. In the span of 12 months, she’s done the Super Bowl, New Year’s, the inaugural.’