Breakup meets world.
For Matthew Lawrence, after going through a highly publicized divorce from Cheryl Burke in 2022 after three years of marriage, he prefers not to speak about that chapter.
âThatâs one of the interesting things about when you choose to be in a career like this is that your private life is public, so you have to live those things out on a public stage,â the actor, 45, reflected while talking to DailyMail on Thursday. âAnd I donât think thatâs really fun for anybody, you know?â
Matthew Lawrence and Cheryl Burke divorced in 2022. Getty Images
For Lawrence, this is especially true âwhen you donât really have control of the narrative, or if the narrative isnât even true, you kind of just have to say, âWell, Iâm going to have to just go on with my life and continue to live the life I want to live. And the people that I care about know whatâs real and whatâs not.’â
As the âBoy Meets Worldâ alum put it: âYou just have to grow thick skin and continue on.â
Lawrence first met Burke, 41, while his brother, Joey Lawrence, was competing on Season three of âDancing with the Starsâ in 2006.
Their romance lasted two years and after going their separate ways, Burke and Lawrence reunited in 2017. They got engaged in 2018 and tied the knot a year later.
Burke filed for divorce from the former child star in February 2022.
Lawrence is now in a relationship with TLCâs Chili.
In 2023, Burke explained what led to the downfall of their romance.
âWhen you donât really have control of the narrative,â Lawrence said, âyou just have to grow thick skin and continue on.â Getty Images
Lawrence and Burke were married for three years. Vivien Killilea
âThereâs boundaries, right? Like, I have boundaries. All of that got kind of, I guess, foggy because I didnât really know who I was as a person,â she told The Post at the time. âBut I did know that even back then, that this just doesnât feel right. It didnât feel right. I knew that this wasnât [right], whether itâs because of me evolving or him evolving or us evolving, but not together. It was important to, first of all, try, which we did.â
Burke claimed she and Lawrence âdid it allâ to make their marriage work.
âWe did try. We were in therapy,â she described. âYou know what? This isnât what it was. And to walk away with no shame and to walk away with my head held up high was something that Iâm proud of to this day. Because itâs not ever fun to say that youâre divorced in your thirties and Iâm not the cookie-cutter social norm when it comes to married [with] kids and happily ever after.â
Mathew Lawrence and Cheryl Burke arrive to the 2007 Teen Choice Awards at the Gibson Amphitheater on August 26, 2007. Steve Granitz
Burke added, âItâs just â thatâs not my story and thatâs okay. And I think being able to forgive myself and to just go with my gut and trust myself is a really big step for me.â
Lawrence, for his part, shared with Entertainment Tonight that the divorce âtestedâ him.
âAnd I learned so much about myself, and Iâm so thankful and blessed for the opportunity to grow and thatâs what came out of it,â the podcast host told the outlet in 2023.
Now, Burke is celibate in the wake of her split.
Lawrence Lawrence is currently in a relationship with TLCâs Rozonda âChiliâ Thomas. WireImage
âI need to heal still in that sense,â she told Us Weekly in August 2025. âI touch myself all the time. Itâs great. We are good to go. Thereâs no emotional baggage that comes with it.â
The decision has led to âa lot more self-love and self-respect and self-worth,â she told Us in 2024.
âI am on that Mya train,â Burke explained, referring to the Grammy-winning singer, 46, who also revealed she had been celibate for seven years. âGo, Mya.â
In October, Burke reflected on all of her big life changes happening at once.
Burke is celibate following her split from the âBoy Meets Worldâ alum . cherylburke/Instagram
The ballroom star was a dance pro on the ABC series for 26 seasons from 2006 until 2022 â the same year she filed for divorce.
âIt wasnât just the divorce with my ex. It was the divorce with âDancing With the Starsâ all in one year, and then leaving my home I lived in for 16 years and I moved to where I am today,â she said while on Jana Kramerâs âI Do, Part Twoâ podcast at the time.
âSo itâs like, itâs just, it was all happening in one year, and those are three big life changes,â added Burke. âThey say, if you hit five in one year, youâre most likely going to check into the nearest mental institution.â