Chilli and Matthew Lawrence on vacation in Jamaica on Feb. 10, 2024.Photo:John Parra/Getty
John Parra/Getty
Rozonda “Chilli” Thomasis letting news roll off her back afterUsherrevealed to PEOPLE thatshe turned down his marriage proposal.
The2024 Super Bowlhalftime show headliner, 45, told PEOPLE in this week’s cover story that he “went through a great deal of pain” after she declined his proposal and began “not trusting women or wanting to open up.”
She and her boyfriend,Matthew Lawrence, recently celebrated Valentine’s Day on a tropical getaway at theSandals Dunn’s Riverin Jamaica. The vacation fell duringLawrence’s 44th birthday on Sunday, which the couple celebrated with a private candlelight dinner.
Matthew Lawrence and Chilli pose for a photo in front of water at Sandals Dunn’s River on Feb. 10, 2024 in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.John Parra/Getty
Her rep previously confirmed to PEOPLE that the twobegan dating just before Thanksgiving 2022after they had been spotted together on a beach in Hawaii that August. It is her first high-profile relationship since dating Usher from 2001 to 2004.
Of their split, Usher told PEOPLE that the situation “broke my heart” but is “not hurt over that at all” any more.
“We’ve since become cool with each other, celebrate each other, and it’s always light when we see each other,” he told PEOPLE. Chilli echoed the thought while speaking to PEOPLE last June, explaining that shehas “no hard feelings” towards her ex.
Chilli and Matthew Lawrence at Sandals Dunn’s River on Feb. 10, 2024 in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.John Parra/Getty
“We definitely had some chemistry. But working chemistry does not mean it works in your personal life. If we were working, it was great. But outside of that, we’re so different,” she told PEOPLE.
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Chilli previously told PEOPLE thatwhat makes her relationship with Lawrence workis that they know “how to communicate very well with each other.”
“Obviously we both are like, ‘Man if we had met years ago’ and all that. There’s our time, and then there’s God’s time. When you go through more stuff you really appreciate that person so much more. You cherish the relationship in a different way. I’ve never experienced anything like this,” she told PEOPLE in May 2023.
source: people.com
