Joey Lawrence Said His Marriage to Samantha Cope Was 'Very Unexpected' 8 Months Before Their Divorce (Exclusive)

"I've never actually gotten into a serious relationship with somebody that I actually worked with," Lawrence previously told PEOPLE of the "unorthodox" way he met Cope on set of their Lifetime movie

Before Joey Lawrence and Samantha Cope made the decision to end their marriage, he had reflected on their "unorthodox" meet-cute in an interview with PEOPLE.

Eight months before Cope, 37, filed for divorce from Lawrence, he spoke to PEOPLE for an interview in December 2023.

While discussing how they met on the set of My Husband’s Secret Brother, Lawrence, 48, admitted that he didn’t expect their relationship to develop into a marriage — in part because he had "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."

Related: Joey Lawrence and Samantha Cope Split After 2 Years of Marriage

He explained that his brother was directing the Lifetime movie, and Lawrence and Cope’s characters had a complicated dynamic.

"I was her killer," he said with a laugh. "Well, I was her lover — and also her killer."

The pair got married in May 2022 and welcomed a baby girl, daughter Dylan, together in January 2023. Lawrence also has two other daughters from his previous marriage to Chandie Yawn-Nelson.

"Look, life is a beautiful, sometimes crazy-unexpected journey, and the ups and downs are real, and I'm very thankful that people that I love are around me and that there's health around us," he told PEOPLE in December 2023, joking that his daughter was "keeping me young and it's aging me."

Related: Joey Lawrence Raves About Brother Matthew's 'Cool as Hell' Girlfriend, Chilli: 'He's Happy'

Earlier in August, fans began speculating that Cope and Lawrence had separated when PEOPLE released exclusive photos from a family vacation where Cope was absent. Lawrence also was not wearing his wedding ring.

Lawrence, 48, and his brothers Matthew, 44, and Andrew, 36, were joined by their mother, Donna, the Melissa & Joey alum's daughters, Charleston, 18, and Liberty, 14, as well as Andrew’s girlfriend, Brittany McGowan, on the Caribbean getaway.

“Nothing matters more in this life than the beautiful memories you share with loved ones,” the brothers told PEOPLE at the time. "It was a vacation of a lifetime and we can’t wait to go back!”

Related: Joey Lawrence Says It Was 'So Crazy' to Marry His On-Screen Lover–Turned–Murder Victim Samantha Cope (Exclusive)

News of the couple’s divorce broke on Aug. 21. According to a divorce filing obtained by PEOPLE, Cope cited irreconcilable differences as reason for their split and submitted the paperwork on Aug. 13 — two months after their date of separation, which was listed as June 7, 2024.

Cope requested to block the court's ability to award either side spousal support. Additionally, she is seeking full physical custody of their daughter Dylan, 19 months, while permitting Lawrence visitation at her discretion.

"Once Dylan is 3 or older, Joe will have the option to take her for 2 nights in her home location if he is not working and can facilitate her visiting," the filing reads.

Per the filing, Cope has requested that Lawrence does "not take [Dylan] for long, extended periods of time until she is old enough to specifically ask for the visitation time and all parties agree and able to facilitate."

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The filing also states that Lawrence "must be available for the full time" that Dylan visits while she is a minor, and "is not to be in the presence of any non-family members while with Joe unless agreed upon by Samantha."

Reps for Lawrence and Cope have not responded to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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