Joey Lawrence and Costar Accused of Having an Affair in New Divorce Documents

Joey Lawrence David Livingston/Getty Images

Joey Lawrence is being accused of adultery with his Socked in for Christmas costar and producer Melina Alves.

Alves’ estranged husband, Edward Rider, alleged in new divorce documents that he found out in March that Alves and Lawrence, 48, were having an affair, according to docs obtained by TMZ on Thursday, August 22.

The outlet reports that Rider filed the documents in New Jersey in July – just a few weeks before Lawrence’s estranged wife, Samantha Cope, filed for divorce from the Melissa & Joey alum.

Cope, 37, filed to end her marriage to Lawrence on August 21, two months after the listed separation date, Us Weekly confirmed. In the filing obtained by Us, the actress requested sole custody of their 19-month-old daughter, Dylan.

The documents also stated that Cope said she would approve Lawrence staying with Dylan for up to two nights per week after she turned 3. Cope has also blocked the court’s ability to award spousal support, per the docs.

The former couple got together after Lawrence’s split from ex-wife Chandie Yawn-Nelson in 2020. Lawrence and Cope met on the set of the Lifetime movie, My Husband’s Secret Brother, that year.

“So we met there and out of nowhere, you know, it was a crazy year and a half for everybody, obviously the whole world,” Lawrence exclusively told Us in 2021, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. “Then when you least expect [it], amazing things happen and meeting her has just been really the greatest thing ever.”

In August 2021, Us exclusively broke the news that the twosome were engaged. Lawrence also shared the news via social media at the time.

“We are beyond excited to see what the future holds for us and to know we will grow old and super wrinkly together is the ultimate blessing,” he wrote.

Lawrence and Cope wed in May 2022. Shortly after their nuptials, Lawrence revealed they were expecting their first baby together. They welcomed daughter Dylan in January 2023. (Lawrence also shares daughters Charleston, 18, and Liberty, 14, with Yawn-Nelson, to whom he was married for more than a decade.)

More than one year after welcoming their daughter, Lawrence joked that he’s been “married a billion times” because he’s a “hopeless romantic.”

“It’s all about just trying to be happy,” he told Us. “You got to be with the right person.”