TLC's Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas Says Boyfriend Matthew Lawrence Is 'Perfect for Me'

Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas is sharing her total adoration for beau Matthew Lawrence.

At Variety's 2023 Power of Women event presented by Lifetime in New York City on Tuesday, Chilli — who was accepting the Legacy Award on behalf of TLC — opened up to PEOPLE about what makes Lawrence the "perfect" partner for her.

"I love everything about him," she says. "I love him and I like him, and that's important. That is so important. You know what I mean? I like everything about him, every little thing."

"I mean, he's perfect for me," she adds.

The "No Scrubs" singer also touched on their "very real" connection. "You know, isn't that just the chemistry," Chilli says. "It's not forced. It's real. You know? It's very real."

Lawrence, 43, and Chilli, 52, became involved romantically just ahead of Thanksgiving 2022 after they were previously photographed on a beach in Hawaii that August.

Chilli's longtime rep Christal Jordan confirmed her client was dating Matthew in January in a statement to PEOPLE, saying, "I've been with Chilli since 2005 and I've never seen her this in love."

"She is glowing. They are really cute together," Jordan added at the time, further confirming that Lawrence and the "Waterfalls" singer spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in Atlanta, where the actor met Chilli's family.

The two went Instagram official over New Year's weekend, sharing a joint Instagram post that featured a video of them dancing in matching Christmas pajamas, in the style of A-ha's "Take on Me" music video.

"This makes me very happy!! ❤️❤️," Matthew's former Boy Meets World costar Danielle Fishel wrote in a comment.

Chilli also has the seal of approval from his brother Joey Lawrence, who told PEOPLE last month that Chilli is "cool as hell."

"She's great, a sweet person, super genuine, so warm and kind. And yeah, they're just having a great time and it's just good to see him happy and he makes her happy. So that's all you can ever ask for," he said.

Both Chilli and Matthew are longtime stars who had their big breaks in the early 1990s — the former as part of Grammy-winning R&B/hip-hop trio TLC alongside Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.

News of their relationship came just over three months after Matthew and ex Cheryl Burke finalized their divorce after nearly three years of marriage. Burke, 38, filed for divorce from Matthew in February, listing Jan. 7, 2022, as the official date of separation.

Chilli was previously in a long-term relationship with Usher, whom she went through a public breakup from in 2003. She has a 25-year-old son, Tron Austin, from a previous relationship with music producer Dallas Austin.

Variety's 2023 Power of Women event also honored Judy Blume, Natasha Lyonne, Rosie Perez, Kelly Ripa and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez.

All honorees and guests received gift bags inclusive of products from BOMBAS, goop, Kiehl's, OUAI, Savage x Fenty, The Little Market and Victoria Beckham Beauty (among others).

In her speech, Chili honored Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who died in 2002 and was one of the founding members of TLC alongside Chili and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins.

"We will forever keep our sister Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes' memory alive through everything that we do," Chili said. "We never ever even thought about replacing her — even after she burned the house down… which by the way, it was an accident!"