Jennifer Garner and her boyfriend John Miller were spotted together on Sunday for the first time as a couple in just over a year, smiling and looking relaxed during a date night at a restaurant in Santa Monica, California.
Garner, 54, beamed while putting on a loving display with Miller in photos obtained by the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail has reached out to Garner's representatives for comment but has yet to receive a response.
The couple's status had been in question in recent months. They had last been spotted out at a public establishment in July 2025, and their last sighting of any kind was in December of last year. On Sunday evening, however, the pair both smiled while taking a stroll together.
First sighting in over a year
Garner was dressed casually in a light-gray sweatshirt paired with cropped white jeans and matching white trainers. She wore her long brunette hair pulled back from her face and cascading down her shoulders as she gazed affectionately at Miller. He wore an untucked olive button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, acid-wash jeans and well-worn brown leather Chelsea boots.
At one point during the stroll, Garner, who alternated between keeping her hands behind her back and putting her left hand in her pocket, affectionately placed a hand on Miller's back as they walked toward the upscale Italian restaurant Fia.
Garner first began dating Miller, the CaliGroup chief executive, in 2018, three years after her separation from her ex-husband Ben Affleck. She and Affleck share three children: Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 13.
Garner and Miller briefly split in 2020 but reportedly reunited the following year, largely keeping their relationship out of the spotlight since. Despite rumors that she and Affleck were growing close again following his divorce from Jennifer Lopez, Garner and Miller appeared to be going stronger than ever last year, particularly after they were photographed sharing a kiss in April 2025. Rumors also swirled that Miller had moved in with Garner after he was spotted outside her mansion in May of last year.
'John is basically living with Jennifer,' a source told UsWeekly in May 2025, noting it was only 'part time.' The publication also claimed Miller moved out of his Los Angeles home after wildfires ravaged several neighborhoods in the city in January 2025. 'He has an office in LA and splits his time between staying there and at Jennifer's home,' the source said.
The Daily Mail confirmed in mid-March of last year that Garner and Miller were still going strong, with a source spotting them looking cozy on a date night. The couple was seen 'holding hands and kissing' and being 'very cute with one another' as they strolled through the Brentwood Country Mart in Los Angeles that evening, according to the eyewitness.
'They are still going strong and appear to be doing really well,' the source said. 'They looked happy and at ease, like a married couple that is thriving. They laughed and smiled at each other. Very cute.' The insider added that both were dressed down for the date: 'She had no makeup on, her hair down. He wore a coat and jeans.' 'There was a lot of affection between them,' the source continued. 'They held hands and kissed, just a very normal couple with no Hollywood weirdness.'
Garner and Miller then dropped off the radar following their July 2025 outing and weren't seen again until December, when they had a brief rendezvous to exchange Christmas gifts while Garner was preparing her family's larger celebration.
Miller's career and family
Miller, a Stanford Law School graduate, is chairman and chief executive of CaliGroup, a tech conglomerate that owns the CaliBurger restaurant chain and invests in robotics and artificial intelligence ventures. He also heads CaliGroup's portfolio company PopID, which focuses on facial recognition payment systems. Despite his business profile, Miller keeps a low public presence and rarely seeks the spotlight.
Outside of his business ventures, Miller co-parents his two children with his ex-wife Caroline Campbell, a violinist who has performed with artists including Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Sting. The former couple married in 2005 and divorced in 2011 but are said to maintain a cordial relationship for their children's sake.
Garner opens up about paparazzi
Last month, Garner gave a rare look behind the scenes at how the fame she and Affleck attract has complicated their family life. 'If I went through a yellow light, 15 cars would go through the red behind me,' Garner recalled on Evan Ross Katz's Shut Up Evan podcast. 'They would drive up onto people's lawns, even on a hillside.'
She added, 'We were trying to have our little one play soccer, and the association asked us to stop because there were 20 cars coming. So it wasn't just about us. It was just an industry that had gotten out of control.'
Garner also described the presence of photographers as dangerous. 'If you show up and you're trying to get into the pediatrician and you have a sick kid on your shoulder and you're scared and you can't get into the door because you're blocked by photographers, there's something wrong with that, and the kids are paying the price,' she said. She acknowledged a sense of ambivalence about the privileged lifestyle her career has offered: 'It felt like "poor little me, my poor little kids who have everything in the world," but it was a danger to everyone around us.'
Katz asked Garner what the current dynamic is like with the photographers who follow her. She said two photographers have been assigned to trail her for more than 20 years and described an 'odd' relationship with one of them. 'I have a very interesting relationship with my main guy,' she said. 'I mean, I've done anything to ask him to leave. And at the same time, we have an odd respect for each other. I don't know... we've had some really real life moments together.'
She recalled being followed by someone she feared, and running toward the familiar photographer instead. 'I was followed by someone who, for whatever reason, I thought was going to hurt me, and I ran to him because I knew him and trusted him, and I knew that he and I would be okay,' Garner said. 'Like, there's kind of a Stockholm syndrome thing,' she explained. 'And at the same time, I've called the cops on him a million times and been like, "Can you please just give me a walk around the block with my kids and my dog?"'
Praise for Ben Affleck
Earlier this month, the Houston, Texas, native made rare comments praising Affleck. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about balancing family and career, Garner said she 'absolutely' 'got caught up' in motherhood but described her ex-husband as a 'great partner,' eight years after their divorce was finalized.
'But my kids are a little bigger [now]. Their dad has become this incredible co-parent,' she said. She added, 'When [my kids] were younger, I wouldn't have done a couple of weeks away without taking them with me. Now they're in high school. You can't really do that anymore. But they can stay with their dad. He's wonderful. He takes care of them. He's a great partner in that way. And that's very freeing.'
