Joey Lawrence breaks silence amid split with wife in wake of affair claims with co-star

Former child star Joey Lawrence broke his silence on his split and alleged affair with his co-star, before dropping some bombshells of his own.

Actor Joey Lawrence broke his silence on his divorce from Samantha Cope and alleged affair, before dropping some bombshells of his own.

The former teen star told his Instagram followers on Thursday that he felt a “deep sense of responsibility” to deny recent accusations he cheated on his estranged wife with his co-star of the yet to be released holiday movie Socked in for Christmas Melina Alves.

Echoing Alves’ own social media statement on Wednesday, Lawrence, 48, claimed to simply be “close friends” with the actress.

Joey Lawrence and Samantha Cope split after just two years of marriage.

“At the time I met Melina, I was in the midst of a deeply troubled marriage,” the Melissa & Joey star wrote, adding that the relationship was “beyond saving” and “fraught with difficulties from the beginning”.

He elaborated on his and Cope’s “insurmountable” issues, which he says centred around his and ex-wife Chandie Yawn-Nelson’s teenage daughters.

Lawrence (right), seen here on the set of Socked in for Christmas, has been accused of having an affair with co-star Melina Alves (far right).

“They are, and always will be, my top priority,” Lawrence wrote of Charleston, 18, and Liberty, 14. “The unravelling of my marriage was tied to my realisation that there was no way my two eldest daughters were ever going to be accepted by my wife to be part of my family.”

He continued, “I cannot and will not compromise on the love and care that my daughters deserve, and this realisation played a significant role in the breakdown of my relationship.”

The actor has two older daughters from his first marriage.

The game show host concluded by emphasising the “wellbeing of (his) children (being) the utmost importance”.

Cope called her ex’s “accusations deeply troubling,” telling People, “I am confident that the truth is known to me, to Joey, and to God”.

She and Lawrence welcomed their now-one-year-old daughter, Dylan, in January 2023, less than one year after their Temecula, California wedding.

Lawrence and Cope welcomed daughter Dylan in January 2023.

In Cope’s divorce filing last week, the actress requested sole physical custody of the little one.

She has yet to speak out on her split besides a vulnerable Instagram video about letting her tears flow in order to replace her “pain and devastation” with “new beautiful feelings”.

News broke one day after her divorce filing that Alves’ estranged husband, Edward Rider, believes his partner cheated with Lawrence.

Alves issued a denial via Instagram Wednesday, claiming she and Rider had been living in separate rooms since January 2023.

“Our relationship was a meaningful friendship that developed naturally due to the many similarities in our personal situations,” she told her followers, slamming Rider for “unjustly dragging” Lawrence into their drama.

This article originally appeared in Page Six and was reproduced with permission