Lopez's First Love

JENNIFER LOPEZ still regularly visits her childhood sweetheart, who she dated for nine years at high school.

Her relationship with DAVID CRUZ lasted longer than the superstar's three marriages - to OJANI NOA, CRIS JUDD and current husband MARC ANTHONY - put together, and she insists he remains important to her because "he probably knows me better than anyone else".

Lopez says, "My first love was a guy in high school named David. We dated for like nine years from high school until I was about 24.

"I have many memories of David because nine years is like a lifetime. We grew up together because I was barely 16 when I met him.

"His best friend was dating my best friend. He saw me and fell in love with me right away.

"I had short hair and I was a little too heavy and wore these terrible school uniforms, but he fell in love with me anyway.

"When we went back to school for the next year I saw him at the bus stop and thought he was kind of cute. We wound up dating for almost 10 years.

"He still lives in the neighbourhood in the Bronx where we grew up and so does my grandmother.

"I see him whenever I go there to visit her. When we run into each other we keep in touch for a while through phone calls.

"He's a friend and he probably knows me better than anyone else or at least more than a lot of people do."