'That's my dog': Cheryl Burke wins custody of French bulldog Ysabella after divorce from Matthew Lawrence
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Cheryl Burke has reportedly won custody of her dog, bringing her messy divorce from ex-husband Matthew Lawrence to a closure. The 'DWTS' actress and her ex have agreed on who would be the primary carer of their French bulldog, Ysabella, a matter they had been arguing over throughout their divorce proceedings.
In October 2022, Burke said that the couple was "going to trial" over the custody of Ysabella but it now appears that the 'Boy Meets World' star has given up his ownership of the dog. According to recent court documents acquired by TMZ, Lawrence agreed to handover all documents and data relating to Ysabella, including the status of 'pet parent' to Burke for the pet dog's microchip service, Home Again.
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Lawrence and Burke, 38, first met in 2006 on the set of 'DWTS'. The pair first started dating in 2013, broke up, then renewed their romance in 2017. They announced their engagement the following year and got married in 2019. Burke first filed a divorce from Lawrence on February 18, 2022, claiming that they had split up on January 7 of that year. As stated in their prenup, Burke and Lawrence came to an arrangement in September to divide their two properties and forego spousal support on both sides.
Burke claimed that she and Lawrence would eventually end up in court over Ysabella's custody during an October episode of her iHeartRadio program 'Burke in the Game'. She said "I'm still just really hurt by the whole situation," the dancer said at the time. She went on to add that while their divorce was finalized, "It's still not over because we have to maybe go to trial - well, we are going to go to trial, unless [Lawrence] all of the sudden calls it off." "That's my dog," Burke declared. "Ysabella is my daughter, I'm a dog mom, and that's it. I couldn't even imagine my life, I mean, I could just cry right now, but I couldn't imagine my life without her," she added.
Burke gushed about her relationship with the 42-year-old actor in a YouTube video posted in 2020. She said, "I honestly think at the time when we first dated, I didn't clearly love myself enough to think that I deserved to be with someone who was actually nice to me." She also added how the 'Mrs. Doubtfire' star was complete opposite of everything bad about her past relationships and how she was so grateful and happy that the universe really brought him back into her life when she was ready.
Lawrence is currently involved with 51-year-old Rozonda Thomas, aka Chilli from TLC. The singer and the actor are said to be sharing an exclusive relationship after becoming more than just friends during the Thanksgiving season. The singer's rep said that the new couple celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas together in Atlanta, where Lawrence even met Chilli’s family for the first time. The couple reportedly went Instagram official with their romance recently when they shared a video dancing to A-ha's 'Take on Me' in their pajamas.