Matthew Lawrence and Chilli Thomas have been together for around four or five months now. They were spotted hanging out on the beach in Hawaii in August, but supposedly didn’t start dating until right before Thanksgiving. At the same time, Matthew was finalizing his rather contentious divorce from Cheryl Burke, which included cheating allegations and dog custody. So perhaps that’s why he’s waited until now to really talk about his new girlfriend. Chilli’s rep talked, Matthew’s brother talked, and now it’s Matthew’s turn. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Matthew talked about how amazing and special his relationship with Chilli is and their plans to have kids.
Matthew Lawrence is opening up about his “really, really special” girlfriend Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Friday, The Boy Meets World actor shared how he and the TLC singer met as well as their future plans to have kids.
When asked by ET’s Deidre Behar if children are in the cards in the near future, Lawrence said, “That’s the game plan. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
“My life is in complete bloom right now. I get to spend time with an amazing woman like Chilli,” he said. “I’ve never gotten to be able to experience that kind of relationship before. She’s really, really special.”
Lawrence, 43, and Chilli, 52, became involved romantically just ahead of Thanksgiving 2022 after they were previously photographed on a beach in Hawaii that August. The pair met at ’90s Con in March 2022.
Chilli’s longtime rep Christal Jordan confirmed her client was dating Matthew in January in a statement to PEOPLE, saying, “I’ve been with Chilli since 2005 and I’ve never seen her this in love.”
“She is glowing. They are really cute together,” Jordan added at the time, further confirming that Lawrence and the “Waterfalls” singer spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in Atlanta, where the actor met Chilli’s family.
However, he and Chilli revealed that the two almost wouldn’t have met if not for a big snowstorm that brought them together on the same flight.
“Really it was the flight talking and then afterwards saying, ‘hey, you know what? Let’s keep in contact,’ and it almost did not happen,” Lawrence said of the flight he met Chilli on.
“Literally an hour before the flight took off, they said, ‘Okay, we got you on this flight. You gotta go,'” he told ET about frantically making the trip for work.
Regardless of how you feel about Cheryl or anyone, it must really sting to hear about your ex being so happy after they’ve wronged you. “I’ve never gotten to be able to experience that kind of relationship before.” “My life is in complete bloom right now.” That’s a lot of gushing. But taken alone, without the background of the drama, it is quite sweet, albeit cheesy. Also, his comments to about how they met shed a bit of light on the timeline. Apparently they met a year ago at 90s Con, which was after he and Cheryl split, but well before the August beach jaunt. So maybe Matthew and Chilli were “talking” and dating a bit, but didn’t get serious until Thanksgiving? In any case, they seem quite serious now if they’re already planning on having kids, but that may be down to their ages. Despite having been a TLC fan as a child and logically knowing her age, I still can’t believe Chilli is 52 when she looks the same now as she did 25 years ago.
Photo note by CB: I’m not trying to be shady with the header pic! There are no recent photos of Matthew Lawrence, I had to use a screenshot of him, or of Chilli where she’s not performing. Photos credit: Getty and Avalon.red
Ugh. Chilli can do so much better than him. He just gives off all kinds of scumbag vibes.
Nooo kidding. These are two Gen X people trying to be relevant in a Gen Z world.
If you’re truly together and happy, just go do that.
(And Chili, do NOT become a parent with this man!)
I hope he continues to treat her well. She so deserves it. She had bad experiences with Dallas Austin (the father of her son) and Usher (who wrote a song about cheating on her)! Wishing her blessings.
If she’s 52…kids will likely take some creativity. But if they’re happy, I’m happy for them. I don’t know the details with Cheryl or if there was infidelity involved, but I wish Cheryl well as well. She seems to struggle with a lot of things.
She looks amazing. This is super random but a good friend of mine dated tboz for years before they hit it big as TLC. And even for a while after they became well known. All three of those ladies have always been fun, good people and I hope she find happiness with him!
I thought she didn’t want any “scrubs”.
He must not be then. For her rep who has been with her since 2005 to say she’s never seen Chilli glow and this happy before and has been approved by her family/son means he must be doing something right. Chilli doesn’t give off vibes of her taking shit from anyone and I think Matthew isn’t taking her for granted.
Her kid with Dallas Austin is well into adulthood now. She wants to go through all that again.
She’s a little too hardcore into evangelical Christianity for my tastes but I wish them the best.
That makes sense, that she is hardcore evangelical. I thought his brother came out as a Trumpy. He hasn’t to my knowledge, but there are plenty of conservative Christians who support Republicans on the low. Hoping that Chili isn’t one of them, but her dating this guy makes me wonder, and that makes me sad.
A bunch of evangelicals at my old job are Trumpies on the low.
They’re hiding it? Conservative Christians are Trump’s base entirely.
I think they’re an adorable little piece of nostalgia and I’m not mad that they’re happy together.
That’s all.