Ben Affleck is relieved he never married ex-fiancee Jennifer Lopez and admits their engagement was a mistake.

The ex-couple's high profile relationship ended in 2004, just months after they were due to marry, a wedding that was called off at the last moment.

Affleck insists it was a mistake to propose to his girlfriend of two years.

He says: "I should never have got engaged and never gone down that route. I thought I wanted certain things, but I didn't. I got lost and felt suffocated, miserable and gross.

"Being in the middle of a tabloid frenzy, it became so intense I had to stop and think, 'What am I doing with my life?'

"I had to smile for the cameras, but I was really in turmoil. I was no longer in control of my life and I didn't know which way to turn. I felt like a hamster in a cage. The faster my legs went, the less distance I seemed to travel."