DWTS Pro’s Ex-Husband’s New Flame Addresses Marriage & Baby Rumors

Heavy DWTS star's ex is facing rumors.

Cheryl Burke’s ex-husband, Matthew Lawrence, is in a serious relationship with new girlfriend Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, but is marriage and children in their future? In an April 2023 interview, Thomas, 52, addressed recent rumors about plans to have a child with the “Boy Meets World” star.

“It’s so crazy,” Thomas told E! News of rumors that she plans to have a baby 25 years after welcoming her only child, Tron, with her ex, Dallas Austin. “I don’t even understand how that happened, like that whole little rumor, whatever you want to call it. That was a lie.”

Thomas’ clarification came a month after Lawrence, 43,  told Entertainment Tonight that he had a “game plan” to start a family with the TLC singer. “I hope. … That’s what we’re trying to do,” Lawrence said in March 2023.

Chilli Thomas Said It’s Too Soon to Talk About Marriage With Matthew Lawrence

GettyMatthew Lawrence and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas.

While they may not be on the same page when it comes to kids, in a separate interview, Thomas told Page Six that her relationship with Lawrence is the real deal and “different” from any relationship she has had in the past.

“It’s real and there is nothing fake about it,” she said. “I’m here with him because I wanna be and he wants to be. We’re just so happy, we really are. …He has changed everything, the way I look at relationships.”

Thomas stopped short of confirming marriage plans, though. “We’re still in the beginning stages so we’ll see,” she told Page Six.

Thomas previously used the word “yet” when talking about marriage to Lawrence. “We’re not married yet so we’re just very happy and growing in our relationship,”  she told E! News in March 2023.

Lawrence was married to former ”Dancing with the Stars” pro dancer Cheryl Burke for nearly three years before she filed for divorce from him in February 2022. Lawrence and Thomas, who had been friends for years, went Instagram official as a couple on December 31, 2022.

Matthew Lawrence Said He’d Be ‘Lucky’ To Have a Child With Chilli Thomas

Lawrence explained his stance on children in an interview with E! News, where he clarified that he never meant to put any “pressure” on his new love by talking about a future family. He also gave her props for how she raised her son Tron.

“She’s already a mother, she has an incredible son,” Lawrence said in March 2023. “I respect so much as to how she’s raised him. She’d be an incredible mother again and I’d be incredibly lucky but that’s way in the future.”

Burke has said that she hopes her ex-husband can fulfill his dream of parenthood with Thomas. “I really truly hope he can actually have a kid with Chilli,” she said in an interview on “The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever With Chris Harrison.” “I think that’s amazing. I think he’s wanted that.”

Burke added that Lawrence comes from a “huge family” and that they did talk about having kids during their three-year marriage, but that she ultimately put her dance career first.

“There were definitely conversations but I always had said, ‘As long as I had to shove my body in a dance costume, me thinking about being pregnant probably isn’t something I can talk about at the moment,'” she admitted.

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