Jennifer Lopez ditches Alex Rodriguez to pursue high school crush Mitch Bilstein

Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez ended her engagement with former baseball player Alex Rodriguez in order to finally pursue Mitch Bilstein, for whom she has had a crush since adolescence, sources say.

To be sure, the relationship between Lopez, 51, and Rodriguez, 45, has encountered some recent turbulence. But the real reason Lopez broke off their relationship was because she simply could not go on living while knowing she was in love with another man.

"The entire time I was with Alex, I just couldn't stop thinking about Mitch," Lopez said. "Everything about the guy is sexy - the way his glasses fog up when it's humid, the way he always leaves two buttons on his yellow shirts undone, the fact he always has a pen when you need one. I couldn't go on any longer with this nagging feeling of regret."

Bilstein, 49, a biology teacher at Abraham Lincoln Middle School in Wichita, Kansas, has never married. He's also not a big fan of music, but does make a point to watch Lopez's performances whenever they don't conflict with reruns of The Big Bang Theory.

The two attended the same high school and first met during eighth-period study hall when Bilstein was just a freshman. “I was a couple minutes late to study hall one day,” Lopez recalls, “and the only seat left was next to Mitch. I don’t know why none of the other kids sat next to him. My lucky day, I guess! So I took my seat, and it was love at first sight. He didn’t say much; always had his head in a book. I have a thing for smart guys. But I couldn’t stop thinking about him, and I wrote about him in my diary every night. I kept promising myself that one day I would ask him out, but I could never conjure the nerve. It’s been agony ever since.”

Battle Line exclusively sat down with Lopez as she was about to finally take the big leap and call Mitch and ask him out on a date. She had received his number from a mutual friend. His name appeared in her phone surrounded by heart emojis.

After a few deep, calming breaths, she finally stopped shaking long enough to dial the number. “Oh my God, I’m so nervous!” she said as the phone rang.

Upon reaching his voicemail, she said, “Hi Mitch, this is Jenn. Jennifer. Jennifer Lopez. Ha-he-ha! Hope you’re well. Hey, I was just wondering if, you know, if you’re not busy…umm…sometime, umm whether you’d like to, you know, ummm…grab a drink or something. Maybe dinner. Or a drink. Ummm, anyway, I’d love to catch up. It’s been so long, and I’d really like to see you again. Give me a call when you get this. K-bye!”

After hanging up the phone, Lopez put her head in her hands. “Ugggghhhh! I sounded so desperate, didn’t I? C’mon, Jennifer, get it together. I mean, who am I kidding? He probably has, like, 10 girlfriends.” (Battle Line has confirmed that Bilstein has zero girlfriends.)

Lopez waited for nearly two hours without a response. She said she needed to get home and was clearly deflated while climbing into her car.

Battle Line later followed up with Bilstein about the situation via text. The next morning, he responded: “Alex Rodriguez is single?!

Originally published April 28, 2021.