Jennifer Lopez: 'I Love Myself Enough to Walk Away'posted by Lizbeth Scordo - Mon Aug 1 2011, 9:11 PM PDTHer 7-year marriage may have crumbled, and she's now facing a new life as a single mother to two young children, but -- in her first interview since announcing that she and Marc Anthony are getting divorced -- Jennifer Lopez tells Vanity Fair that she truly believes in love. "It's still my biggest dream," she says in the magazine's September issue.
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The pop star, actress, and "American Idol" judge insists that she and her estranged husband both tried at their relationship, but in the end they simply didn't succeed. "I really worked hard at it. We both did. Sometimes it doesn't work -- and that's sad," she explains. "But I remain an eternal optimist about love. I am positive -- determined to move forward with my life, bring up my babies, and do the best job I can as a mother, entertainer, and person. I now look forward to new challenges. I feel strong."
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Since the couple called it quits last month, reports have emerged of Anthony -- a fellow musician -- being an envious and controlling husband, going so far as to have the final say over his wife's wardrobe choices. Lopez doesn't confirm those details, but hints at the fact that she, indeed, deserved better. "Sometimes we don't realize that we are compromising ourselves. To understand that a person is not good for you, or that that person is not treating you in the right way, or that he is not doing the right thing for himself -- if I stay, then I am not doing the right thing for me," she says. "I love myself enough to walk away from that now."
Lopez and husband Marc Anthony recently announced they were divorcing after seven years of marriage. John Shearer/WireImage.com
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Still, Lopez, 42, also remembers the good times, including the fact that 3-year-old twins, Emme and Max, were a result of their union. "I will always respect Marc as a singer and performer," she insists in the interview. "We actually work great together, and he was always very supportive. Together we could make magic -- and we did. He will always be in our lives. He will always hold a special place in my heart as the father of my children."