Joey Lawrence and Samantha Cope surprised fans when they showed up together for the red carpet premiere of their movie, Marry Christmas, on Wednesday, Dec. 4. They showed off some PDA and they looked very much in love after his alleged affair with his Socked in for Christmas co-star, Melina Alves. Now, Cope has made an official move that proves their reconciliation is for real.
The 37-year-old actress filed to dismiss her divorce documents on Wednesday, Dec. 11, according to In Touch Weekly. The legal papers noted that she requested to “dismiss the action of all parties and all causes of action.” Cope originally filed for divorce from Lawrence in August and requested “100 percent physical custody of [their daughter] Dylan with visitation to Joe at Samantha’s discretion.”
Her divorce filing came on the heels of an East Coast divorce from Alves’ husband, Edward Rider. TMZ revealed that Rider discovered his wife’s alleged affair with Lawrence in March, but he waited until July to file for divorce. Lawrence was named in the court papers with a notation that their fling occurred in California “at various other times and places.”
Alves denied the affair in an August 28 Instagram post and clarified that there was “no sexual relationship,” only a “meaningful friendship.” Still, there seemed to be more to the story, according to a People source. “Joey met Melina Alves on the set of their movie, where she was a producer,” an insider said in August. “He then love-bombed her just like he love-bombed Samantha. He continued to date Melina even after Samantha found out about it and confronted him.”
Somewhere along the way, Cope and Lawrence decided to work out their issues which was apparently a “surprise” to Alves. “While these situations are always multifaceted, I’d like to keep the details of it and my friendship with Joey private,” she said in a written statement to People on Dec. 5. “As far as Joey and Sam reuniting and reconciling, it came as a surprise to me as everyone else, and if it’s true, I wish them all the love.”
It sounds like this love square was pretty complicated, but let’s hope all individuals involved are now on a better path.
Before you go, click here to see celebrity couples who famously broke up and got back together.
