Alex Rodriguez gives Jennifer Lopez motivational speeches

He said: "I have learned a lot from Alex. He always says, 'Mistakes don't define you. It's what you do after you fall down that matters the most - that's what defines your character.'

"He will tell you, 'Sport is life.' He says that all the time. I'm like, 'I got it baby.' "

Despite his years of sporting success, Jennifer revealed Alex - who has two children, Natasha, 14, and 10-year-old Ella with ex-wife Cynthia Scurtis - has always regretted not going to college because he began his sporting career as a teenager.

Speaking about her character Maya in her new movie 'Second Act', who believes those who are "book-smart" have unfair advantages in the world, she told Britain's Grazia magazine: "I think it's true - the masses don't get to go to Harvard.' It's the elite that get those breaks - most people are Maya. And not just women - men too.

"Alex watched the film and that's the element he loved the most. He got drafted when he was 18 and always hated that he didn't go to college.

"He's in the private equity world now and everyone he meets, or who works for him, went to Harvard.

"But we both found our way. If you don't have those kinds of breaks and opportunities from your parents or your background, but you are smart and talented and ambitious, you have to find your own way in."

The 'On the Floor' hitmaker believes she would have led a similar life to her supermarket worker character if she hadn't found success in showbiz.

She said: "If I hadn't gone into show business, I would have been doing something similar - living in the Bronx, married with kids, doing a regular job."