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.
“That’s 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,” the actor, 45, reflected while talking to DailyMail on Thursday. “And I don’t think that’s really fun for anybody, you know?”
For Lawrence, this is especially true “when you don’t really have control of the narrative, or if the narrative isn’t even true, you kind of just have to say, ‘Well, I’m 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 what’s real and what’s not.’”
As the “Boy Meets World” alum put it: “You just have to grow thick skin and continue on.”
Lawrence first met Burke, 41, while his brother, Joey Lawrence, was competing on Season three of “Dancing with the Stars” 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 TLC’s Chili.
In 2023, Burke explained what led to the downfall of their romance.
“There’s boundaries, right? Like, I have boundaries. All of that got kind of, I guess, foggy because I didn’t really know who I was as a person,” she told The Post at the time. “But I did know that even back then, that this just doesn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right. I knew that this wasn’t [right], whether it’s because of me evolving or him evolving or us evolving, but not together. It was important to, first of all, try, which we did.”
Burke claimed she and Lawrence “did it all” to make their marriage work.
“We did try. We were in therapy,” she described. “You know what? This isn’t what it was. And to walk away with no shame and to walk away with my head held up high was something that I’m proud of to this day. Because it’s not ever fun to say that you’re divorced in your thirties and I’m not the cookie-cutter social norm when it comes to married [with] kids and happily ever after.”
Burke added, “It’s just — that’s not my story and that’s 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.”
Lawrence, for his part, shared with Entertainment Tonight that the divorce “tested” him.
“And I learned so much about myself, and I’m so thankful and blessed for the opportunity to grow and that’s what came out of it,” the podcast host told the outlet in 2023.
Now, Burke is celibate in the wake of her split.
“I need to heal still in that sense,” she told Us Weekly in August 2025. “I touch myself all the time. It’s great. We are good to go. There’s no emotional baggage that comes with it.”
The decision has led to “a lot more self-love and self-respect and self-worth,” she told Us in 2024.
“I am on that Mya train,” Burke explained, referring to the Grammy-winning singer, 46, who also revealed she had been celibate for seven years. “Go, Mya.”
In October, Burke reflected on all of her big life changes happening at once.
The ballroom star was a dance pro on the ABC series for 26 seasons from 2006 until 2022 — the same year she filed for divorce.
“It wasn’t just the divorce with my ex. It was the divorce with ‘Dancing With the Stars’ all in one year, and then leaving my home I lived in for 16 years and I moved to where I am today,” she said while on Jana Kramer’s “I Do, Part Two” podcast at the time.
“So it’s like, it’s just, it was all happening in one year, and those are three big life changes,” added Burke. “They say, if you hit five in one year, you’re most likely going to check into the nearest mental institution.”
