Ralph Fiennes once served as a 'relationship decoy' for Jennifer Lopez

Ralph Fiennes once served as Jennifer Lopez's "relationship decoy" when she was first dating Ben Affleck.

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Tuesday, a fan asked The Menu actor about the rumour that he was tapped to act as a distraction when Lopez and Affleck started seeing each other amid the making of rom-com Maid in Manhattan in 2002.

"I was, I was," Fiennes replied, to which Cohen asked, "Really? Because you were shooting Maid in Manhattan while they were dating?"

"Yeah, yeah, I was set up," he added.

Fiennes went on to recall how he was "asked out to dinner" by Lopez and her managers and they had a "nice" evening at a restaurant in New York City.

But when the British star gave the superstar a "chaste" kiss on the cheek at the end of the night, the moment was captured by paparazzi.

"Somehow the pictures were angled so as she's walking away, (it looks like) I'm walking after her. I think it said the next day on The Post, 'It's Ralph!'" the 59-year-old laughed.

Following a brief engagement in the early 2000s, Lopez and Affleck reconnected in April 2021.

After a year of dating, the couple tied the knot in Las Vegas in July.

Asked for his thoughts on Lopez and Affleck finally getting married, Fiennes added: "My reaction is good luck to them."