Joey Lawrence Allegedly Had an Affair Ahead of Split from Wife Samantha Cope: 'He Love-Bombed Her' (Exclusive Source)

Mar. 15, 2025

Infidelity was a factor inJoey LawrenceandSamantha Cope’s decision to end their marriage, according to an exclusive source.

A source close to the former couple, whosedivorce newsbroke on Aug. 21, exclusively tells PEOPLE that the pair went their separate ways after Lawrence, 48, struck up a relationship with Melina Alves, a writer and costar on his upcoming film,Socked In For Christmas.

“Joey met Melina Alves on the set of their movie, where she was a producer,” the source claims. “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.”

When Cope, 37, “wanted to go to counseling,” the source claims, Lawrence “fooled their counselor” and would “get ready for dates with Melina while Sam watched, bawling her eyes out.”

Samantha Cope (left) and Joey Lawrence.Joey Lawrence Instagram

(L-R) Ricardo Chavez, Allison Elliott, Joey Lawrence and Melina Alves film ‘Socked in for Christmas’.Melina Alves/ Instagram

Melina Alves/ Instagram

Rider alleged in the court filing that Alves and Lawrence were having the affair in California — where they were presumably located for the filming ofSocked In For Christmas —and went on to engage in infidelity “at various other times and places,” according to TMZ.

PEOPLE has reached out to reps for Lawrence, Cope, Alves and Rider for comment, but they have not returned multiple requests for comment.

Joey Lawrence and Samantha Cope with their daughter Dylan Lawrence.Joey Lawrence/Instagram

Joey Lawrence/Instagram

On Wednesday, Aug. 20, PEOPLE confirmed that Lawrence and Cope — who met while filming Lifetime’sMy Husband’s Secret Brotherin 2021 before tying the knot in May 2022 — wereseparating after two years of marriage.

Joey Lawrence and Samantha Cope.samantha cope/Instagram

samantha cope/Instagram

Speculation about the former couple’s separation was first sparked when Lawrence was spotted without a wedding ring in PEOPLE’sexclusive photosof his family vacation to Jamaica in August. Cope was also noticeably absent from the pictures.

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Eight months before Cope filed for divorce from Lawrence, hespoke to PEOPLEin December 2023 about how they met andwhy he didn’t initially expect their relationship to developinto a marriage.

“I never dated somebody that I’d worked with before. That was just very, very much out of the ordinary for me,” he told PEOPLE at the time. “I’ve never actually gotten into a serious relationship with somebody that I actually worked with, never.”

“It was very unexpected,” he continued. “These wild twists and turns that you get to be our age. You just kind of go, ‘All right, well, I guess that’s what it is.’ You learn to accept the unorthodox way some things just sort of roll out and you’re thankful for — you’re thankful for it, even though it’s not what you expected.”

source: people.com