Matthew Lawrence Is Dating TLC’s Chilli After Cheryl Burke Divorce

Cheryl Burke and Matthew Lawrence
The Ride Foundation's Second Annual Gala, Dance for Freedom, Los Angeles, USA - 29 Sep 2018
The Ride Foundation's Second Annual Gala, Dance for Freedom at the Broad Stage, Santa Monica, USA — Image Credit: Blair Raughley/Invision/AP/Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

Matthew Lawrence, 42, has moved on from his divorce from Cheryl Burke, 38. The Boy Meets World star is in an “exclusive relationship” with TLC member Chilli, 51, according to Chilli’s rep, who confirmed the news to TMZ on January 3. The rep revealed that Chilli (née Rozonda Thomas) and Matthew moved their relationship out of the friend-zone right before Thanksgiving.

According to the rep, Matthew and Chilli spent the holidays together in Atlanta, where Matthew introduced his new girlfriend to his family. TMZ also reported that the couple made their relationship ‘Instagram Official’ right before New Year’s Eve, with videos of them dancing to music in their pajamas.

Matthew and the “No Scrubs” singer were first spotted together in Hawaii in August 2022. The pair were all smiles together as they bonded on the beach in their swimwear. At the time, TMZ reported that Matthew and Chilli were only “friends”, but that obviously evolved over the following months.

This is Matthew’s first public relationship since his split from Cheryl. The Dancing with the Stars pro filed for divorce from Matthew in February 2022, after less than three years of marriage. According to the divorce docs obtained by HollywoodLife, Cheryl listed “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the couple’s breakup. The exes finalized their divorce in Sept. 2022.

Six months after her split from Matthew, Cheryl accused an unnamed ex of cheating on her in a TikTok video. In Cheryl’s video, which was set to an Adele song, the pro dancer claimed that she found evidence of the cheating, including text messages and viagra. Cheryl didn’t reveal who the ex was, but her fans immediately accused Matthew of being unfaithful in their marriage.

Matthew never responded to Cheryl’s claims, which were made just weeks after his Hawaii beach date with Chilli. Later in November, Cheryl appeared on Red Table Talk and opened up about her history of dating “abusive” men. Once again, Cheryl did not outright accuse Matthew of any wrongdoing.