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Season 3 “Dancing With the Stars” alum Joey Lawrence and his wife, Samantha Cope, have split.
According to Page Six, Cope filed for divorce from Lawrence, citing irreconcilable differences. The two got married in 2022 and have one child together. In the court documents obtained by Page Six, Cope has requested sole physical custody of daughter Dylan Rose, 1. The actor also has two daughters from a previous marriage to Chandie Yawn-Nelson. The two split in 2020 after 15 years of marriage.
In the court docs, Cope has requested full discretion on when Lawrence can see Dylan — until she is older.
“Once Dylan is 3 or older, Joe will have the option to take her for 2 nights in her home location if he is not working and can facilitate her visiting. He will not take her for long, extended periods of time until she is old enough to specifically ask for the visitation time and all parties agree and able to facilitate. He must be available for the full time she is visiting while she is a minor. She is not to be in the presence of any non-family members while with Joe unless agreed upon by Samantha,” the court documents read, in part, according to Page Six.
As of the time of this writing, Lawrence has not publicly addressed the split. This is his third divorce; he was married to his first wife, Michelle Vella, from 2002 through 2005. Then he married Yawn-Nelson in 2005, and they split in 2020 — the same year that he met Cope.
Heavy has reached out to Lawrence for comment.
Fans Had Mixed Feelings About Joey Lawrence’s Divorce
Some fans reacted to the news of Lawrence and Cope’s split on Reddit.
“They were a strange match. My guess is they were bored during covid and had nothing better to do. Neither one works much, lots of time on their hands,” one person wrote.
“I’m shocked to hear this. Me thinks the problem could be him. Third time was not a charm for him it seems. If you listen to the podcast you can see there’s something off there. Plus he talks about having serious money issues in the past. Maybe he never overcame his spending habits,” someone else added.
“Like, is she a control freak with her demands or is something seriously wrong where she would need to set those boundaries?” a third Redditor wondered, referring to Cope’s custody requests.
Joey Lawrence Spoke About Meeting His Wife in an Interview Months Before Their Split
In December 2023, Lawrence spoke about his relationship with Cope in an interview with People magazine. The now-exes met while working together, which Lawrence admitted was different for him.
“That was just very, very much out of the ordinary for me. I’ve never actually gotten into a serious relationship with somebody that I actually worked with, never,” he told the outlet. The pair met in 2020 while working together on the set of the Lifetime movie, “My Husband’s Secret Brother.”
“It was very unexpected. These wild twists and turns that you get to be our age. You just kind of go, ‘All right, well, I guess that’s what it is.’ You learn to accept the unorthodox way some things just sort of roll out and you’re thankful for — you’re thankful for it, even though it’s not what you expected,” he added.
Lawrence and Cope exchanged vows in Temecula, California.
“It just feels so right. Life can be challenging at times, but when God gives you the right person, it’s worth it,” he told People magazine.
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