Benjamin Bratt has gotten the last laugh on former flame Julia Roberts: He’s married to the love of his life and she’s still struggling to find permanent love.
Bratt tied the knot with Talisa Soto in an intimate ceremony on April 13, while Julia’s still waiting to wed Danny Moder, who’s been busy for months trying to extricate himself from his own marriage.
And it looks like Ben is achieving the dream he wanted to share with Julia — he’s going to be a daddy! Talisa is reportedly pregnant with his child.
“Ben really feels he’s trumped Julia once and for all,” an insider declared.
“He felt betrayed by Julia when they split. He thought she cheated on him with Danny Moder.
“But he didn’t sulk for long. And now he’s found love, marriage and soon, the baby carriage with beautiful Talisa!”
Ben’s “last laugh” on Julia is especially satisfying because of the bitterness of their May 2001 breakup.
“It was a lot nastier than anyone ever knew,” a friend of Ben and Julia disclosed.
“They accused each other of cheating, and Ben finally said he’d had enough.
“Julia has always said she walked out on him, but it was the other way around.
“And Julia claimed she ended the relationship because he couldn’t commit. That had Ben seeing red. HE was the one who wanted to settle down and start a family, but Julia refused.”
Now Ben is happier than ever, said the insider.
“A triumphant Ben even took a potshot at Julia last month by saying that, with Talisa, ‘it’s like being in love for the first time.’
“It was as if everything he’d said when he and Julia were together was a complete lie!”
And with Julia longing to have a child with Danny after they wed, “the report that Talisa was in the very early stages of pregnancy at the time of the nuptials sent Julia into a real tailspin,” the insider added.
Ben and Talisa’s wedding was held on a hillside overlooking the ocean in San Francisco. Only about 20 close friends and relatives attended the ceremony.
Talisa, 35, wore an off-the-rack dress and flip-flops and Ben, 38, wore a black Calvin Klein suit.
The couple wrote the vows themselves and recited them to the gentle sounds of Peruvian flute music.
Ben’s mother Eldy, 65, who is licensed to perform civil marriages, officiated the ceremony.
Talisa’s dad Hector Soto, 66, is overjoyed that his daughter wed the former “Law & Order” star and now he’s looking forward to grandchildren.
“Benjamin is a very nice person, a nice man,” Hector told The ENQUIRER. “I am really happy for both of them.”
Ben and Talisa became good friends two years ago on the set of the movie “Pinero.” However, they didn’t hook up because Ben was still with Julia and Talisa was grappling with the painful end of her three-year marriage to actor Costas Mandylor.
“Last September when Ben and Talisa got together at the Montreal World Film Festival to promote ‘Pinero,’ they suddenly clicked,” said a source close to Talisa.
“They went from friends to lovers in a matter of a few months.”
Another source added: “Ben is on top of the world. He’s found the picture-perfect life with Talisa, and Julia doesn’t know which end is up with her love life.
“It’s Ben’s final revenge against the woman he had no choice but to walk out on.”
