Forget about Justin and Britney, Gwyneth and Brad, J.Lo and Diddy — there’s a new ’90s couple in town, and it just may be the most millennial yet. Boy Meets World’s Matthew Lawrence is reportedly dating TLC’s Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas. Or to put that into a context ’90s babies will understand: The woman who sang “No Scrubs” is dating the hot middle Lawrence brother in the year 2023. To quote Matthew’s older brother, Joey: “Whoa.”
Chilli and Lawrence did a hard launch of their relationship with a joint Instagram post on January 1, celebrating the New Year with a sweet dance video to A-ha’s “Take on Me.” In her caption, Chilli called them the “#onesiegang,” adding, “#wecute.” Chilli’s rep, Christal Jordan, later confirmed the news in an interview with 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.” Friends of Lawrence seem to agree. His BMW co-star Danielle Fishel commented, “This makes me very happy!!”
Rumors about Chilli and Lawrence’s romance started circulating back in August when the two were photographed enjoying the beach on a trip to Hawaii. At the time, TMZ reported the two were just friends, but it wasn’t long before they actually started dating. According to TMZ, they made it official right before Thanksgiving, and Chilli even took the former child star home to Atlanta to meet her family. I’d like to think he has taken her home to meet his many reptiles.
While fans of Boy Meets World and TLC wished the two ’90s icons a great New Year and celebrated their relationship, not everyone seemed to be as thrilled. Cheryl Burke, Lawrence’s ex-wife, appeared to comment on the new relationship on her Instagram, per People. “That was fast,” she wrote on her Instagram Story on Tuesday, with the song “Boy’s a liar” by PinkPantheress playing in the background. Burke and Lawrence’s divorce was finalized in September, but Burke said on her Burke in the Game podcast in October 2022 that it was still ongoing.
“It is still not over because we have to go to trial [over our dog] — unless he all of a sudden calls it off — but that will happen in January,” she said.
This post has been updated.