Chilli's Son Tron Supports Her Relationship with Matthew Lawrence: 'I Just Like Seeing Her Happy' (Exclusive)
"I wish them all the best and I think he's a great guy," Tron Austin, who appears in the new Paramount+ series Family Legacy, tells PEOPLE
Tron Austin is diggin' on his mom Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas and Matthew Lawrence's relationship.
The 25-year-old singer, who appears in the new Paramount+ series Family Legacy, tells PEOPLE in an interview that Chilli and Lawrence's new romance has his stamp of approval.
"Oh man, I just like seeing her happy, you know? As someone who is now five years into my relationship, I love seeing humans connect and witnessing that genuineness. I feel that from him," says Austin, who married wife Jeong Ah Wang in December.
Chilli, 51, and Lawrence, 42, went Instagram official with their relationship in January, and the TLC singer's rep Christal Jordan confirmed their dating status to PEOPLE at the time. While it's been a few months, it seems they're taking things somewhat slow behind the scenes.
"We've only met a couple of times because they're really building their relationship since she's very careful about that kind of stuff," says Austin, who notes that relationships in the spotlight "are not as easy as it seems." He also explains that he feels lucky his own wife "didn't know who my parents were" before they got together.
On his mom's new romance, he said that Chilli's willingness to "be public about" the budding relationship "shows me that this is a very special person in her life."
Related:TLC's T-Boz Says She's 'Never Seen' Chilli 'So Happy' Since Entering Matthew Lawrence Relationship
"I wish them all the best and I think he's a great guy," he continues. "I do MMA and he said that he recently started doing jujitsu, so we have some commonalities and stuff that we talk about. I'm really happy for her."
Austin isn't the only one close to Chilli who's expressed support for her and Lawrence's relationship. Last month, her TLC bandmate Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins spoke positively about the romance in an interview with PEOPLE on the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards red carpet.
"She is so happy," T-Boz, 52, said at the time. "Take it from her sister. Trust me — I've never seen her like this."
Chili then confirmed her fellow "No Scrubs" singer's statement. "I am ecstatic. He's the best, and she approves," she said with a laugh.
Related:TLC and Shaggy Are Teaming Up for the Ultimate Y2K Summer Tour with En Vogue and Sean Kingston
Elsewhere in Austin's interview with PEOPLE, he opens up about what it was like to grow up on the road with the iconic R&B/hip-hop group, which also included the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.
"I think honestly some of my favorite memories are just seeing them in their zone," he says. "Because I see the rehearsals too, right? So they've rehearsed to like 8, 12 hours a day, working like dogs, man. And I would see that all that hard work come to fruition whenever they do the shows and there's 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, whatever the stadium is."
Austin continues, "It's like they're just doing their thing and everyone's all in, for me to take that in was inspiring for me, both as an artist myself and as an aspiring father."
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Read the original article on People.
