'DWTS' alum Cheryl Burke wins dog custody battle against ex Matthew Lawrence
LOS ANGELES - Dogs are a woman's best friend!
At least, that's the case for "Dancing with the Stars" alum Cheryl Burke, who recently won custody of Ysabella, the French bulldog she shared with ex-husband Matthew Lawrence.
Court documents obtained by Us Weekly revealed Burke was awarded all ownership rights pertaining to little Ysa, with Lawrence agreeing to give up any documentation or data on the pooch.
"Officially a FULL TIME dog mom… 2023, we’re off to a great start!" Burke captioned the Instagram post.
Burke and Lawrence were married for nearly three years before divorcing in January 2022. Ysa had been a gift to Burke from Lawrence during that time.
In an essay discussing her divorce, Burke wrote in part, "I have to give credit to my dog Ysabella for keeping me going a lot of the time. Yep, I’m a full-blown ‘dog mom’ and not ashamed to say it! Going through a public divorce, there have been days where I wanted to just stay in bed and hide, and the idea of numbing my emotions with a vodka soda can sound pretty appealing. But Ysabella has tons of energy and gets me outside to go for walks multiple times a day, she loves me to play with her and I honestly can’t imagine life without her by my side 24/7."
Cheryl Burke and Matthew Lawrence attend the RIDE Foundation's 2nd Annual Dance For Freedom held at The Broad Stage on September 29, 2018 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)
"I am still really hurt by the whole situation because that is my dog," Burke continued. "Ysabella is my daughter; I am a dog mom. I couldn’t even imagine my life without her. I could just cry right now."
All proceedings between the couple were finalized in September except for Ysa.
"I’ve realized that whenever I am at a point in my life where I have some big emotions to process, the best thing for me to do is to spend some time alone—other than being with [my dog] Ysa of course, but I truly feel like she is a part of me, so she doesn’t count," Burke wrote on Instagram last March. "If I’m being honest, really feeling my feelings is new to me."
The California native announced her retirement as a DWTS pro in November 2022.