Matthew Lawrence has responded to his soon-to-be ex-wife Cheryl Burke's divorce filing by asking that a judge terminate the court's right to award spousal support for either person, People has reported.
Citing legal documents, the outlet noted that Lawrence also had asked that the former couple's prenuptial agreement be upheld.
Burke filed for divorce from Lawrence on Feb. 18 at a Los Angeles courthouse. The date of separation was listed as Jan. 7 and the reason was irreconcilable differences.
Burke and Lawrence met in 2006 when Lawrence's brother, Joey, appeared on "Dancing With the Stars." They began dating shortly after but split the following year. They reconciled nine years later, in 2017, and were engaged the following year.
In the days following news of their split, Burke released a statement on Instagram asking for "understanding and privacy" as she deals with this personal issue.
"I know I have always said that I'm an open book with you guys; I do strive to be, and in writing this I've realized there isn't really an easy way to announce that my marriage is ending," she wrote. "I hope you can understand that I will not be commenting any further at this time and am asking for understanding and privacy."
In a separate post, Burke said in a video that she had been focusing on healing and continuing to work on herself.
"It has been an interesting journey so far, to say the least," Burke said. "It's been scary because I'm so used to pushing through because of my athleticism and dancing in general. And as a competitor, you learn to push forward, even if it hurts — which means you're not listening to your actual body."
Burke went on to explain that she had taken initiative to "really try and feel my feelings and, more importantly, not judge my feelings while I'm feeling them."
Burke said that working on herself "has been very uplifting but very sad at the same time" because she had to confront her past traumas which included her father's death as well as a series of abusive relationships. She previously revealed that Lawrence had been one of the only relationships that had not been abusive.
"I guess you can say I've never felt my feelings before. I just pushed through," Burke continued. She concluded her video by stating that "feeling your feelings may seem scary, but it really is worth it in the long run."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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