Matthew Lawrence learned a valuable lesson from his divorce. The actor has rarely been seen or spoken about publicly since finalizing his divorce from dancer Cheryl Burke in September 2022.
The actor and brother of Joey Lawrence, began dating Chilli, shortly after his and Cheryl’s marriage officially ended. The singer and actress, whose real name is Rozonda Thomas, is probably best known as a member of the bestselling pop group TLC. The girl group had numerous hit singles in the 1990s. Matthew is opening up for the first time in a while about his failed marriage.
Matthew says he was forced to “grow thick skin”
Although his time with Cheryl ended, Matthew took away plenty in the aftermath of their split. Matthew told the Daily Mail that following their breakup, he had to “grow thick skin.” This was, for him, the only way he could handle false “narratives” that would come out about why the two broke up.
As he was figuring out how to stay strong emotionally during that difficult time, he stayed out of the public eye, rarely, if ever, speaking about his personal life. When the narrative is beyond your control, Matthew says all he could do was continue living his life the way he wanted to.
Matthew may have been very tight-lipped about his split from Cheryl, but the same cannot be said about his ex. The dancer admitted she was still “grieving” the relationship during an interview in October 2025. She and Matthew had been dating since 2007 before splitting up the following year. They reunited in 2018 and got married in 2019. In 2023 Cheryl said she was proud to be alone but not lonely.
All of their time together made it difficult for Cheryl to process. In 2024, she also said financial issues for Matthew and her being the main provider created tensions in their relationship. The co-star of Brotherly Love made his last television appearance last year on The Masked Singer.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK MATTHEW LAWRENCE AND CHILLI WILL EVER TIE THE KNOT?
