Cheryl Burke Reveals She and Matthew Lawrence May Go to Trial Over Custody of Their Dog

Burke got emotional when broaching the topic during a recent episode of her 'Burke in the Game' podcast.

Cheryl Burke and Matthew Lawrence could be headed to court over custody of their dog. In the Oct. 2 episode of Burke's podcastBurke in the Game, the Dancing With the Stars pro shared that the former couple will be handling the matter in court, unless Lawrence "calls it off."

"We are going to go to trial -- unless he all of a sudden calls it off, but that would happen… and that will happen in January," Burke shared. "I'm just still really hurt by the whole situation. You know, that's my dog. Ysabella is my daughter."

"I'm a dog mom. And that's it," she added of the French bulldog. "I can't even imagine my life. I mean, I could just cry right now but, like, couldn't imagine my life without her."

Burke and Lawrence finalized their divorce last month after three years of marriage. According to the court document obtained by ET, the former spouses have reached the end of their divorce proceedings, which began when the 38-year-old dancer filed on Valentine's Day. 

Custody of Ysabella was mentioned in the doc, with their divorce settlement noting that while custody over the dog remains undecided, the exes plan to stick to their premarital agreement.

Neither Burke nor Lawrence opted to receive spousal support at the time, with the doc noting that Lawrence will keep the lease on their car and a plot of land in Los Angeles. 

In Burke's original filing, she cited irreconcilable differences as the cause for their split and listed the date of separation as Jan. 7. 

The dancer raised eyebrows in August when she posted a TikTok video of herself, writing, "When he said he would never talk to her again yet I found text messages, viagra, and a necklace hidden in a pair of his shoes…"

Her caption read, "The last time is absolutely right! Goodbye forever… #exessucks #thelasttime #goodbyeforever #hopeitwasworthit."

She never clarified whether the post was about 42-year-old Lawrence. 

Burke opened up about the split during a May interview on Tamron Hall -- her first TV interview since filing for divorce.

"I mean, he will always have a special place in my heart for sure," she said of remaining friends with her now ex-husband. "I mean, I will, I have so much love for him and his family forever."

Burke also shared how important it was for her and Lawrence to go through therapy throughout their relationship, even before they were married. "I think it's very important because emotions sometimes and feelings can get in the way and can get maybe misconstrued and so I'm a huge advocate for that," Burke said. "We definitely did try it, people evolve and people grow and sometimes they grow together and sometimes, you know, you unfortunately grow apart."

While she said that the couple did try to make it work, a source previously told ET that the split was "a long time coming." 

"They have a lot of history together, and while they hoped this time around would be different, it proved otherwise," the source said at the time, referencing their 2008 split. "They have been living separate lives for a couple months now." 

RELATED CONTENT

 

Latest News