COLE AND LILI: SHOCK SPLIT
The co-stars call time on their real-life romance
Riverdale co-stars and fan-favourite real-life couple Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart appeared to be on good terms as they sat next to each other during their show’s Comic-Con panel in San Diego on July 21. Afterwards, Reinhart made a joke on Instagram about Sprouse and co-star K.J. Apa goofing off behind her back during the event: “Please don’t put me between these two ever again,” she cheekily captioned a pic of the trio.
The night before the panel, however, the former couple – who were first romantically linked after being spotted kissing and holding hands at the same San Diego fan convention in July 2017 – were spotted studiously keeping their distance. “They were both at Entertainment Weekly’s Comic-Con party, but not together,” an eyewitness told Entertainment Tonight. “Lili spent most of the night with her female co-stars, Camila [Mendes] and Madelaine [Petsch] and Britt Robertson, while Cole was on the other side of the party, hanging out with different friends and vaping.”
So, what gives? On July 22, news broke that the pair – who play love interests Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones on the soapy twist on th e Archie comics – had spli t. “Lili and Cole broke up earlier this summer,” a source confirmed to E! News.
For two years, the pair remained tightlipped about their relationship and Sprouse, who turns 27 on Aug. 4, explained why in an interview with WHO in March 2018: “Lili and I are constantly talked about in the public eye and, for me, I think that is being deeply informed by the love of the characters and wanting to see us together,” he said, calling the interest both “offensive” and “flattering” because “it means you’re creating a chemistry on-screen that is so understandable that people want to see it in real life … People can speculate all they want, but it’s really no-one’s right to know. It’s also sexy, these parts of the relationship that are just yours.”
But as time went on, the two became more comfortable with sharing aspects of their relationship with the public, from stepping out together at the Met Gala in May 2018, sending each other flirty messages on social media, packing on the PDA on a trip to Paris and gushing about the other in interviews. “I like to go on adventures with Cole,” Reinhart, 22, said of her then-boyfriend in an October 2018 interview with Teen Vogue. “Truly, adventures ... He’s made me see these things that I would have never seen otherwise. It’s escapism, which is so beautiful.”
In March 2019, Sprouse also opened up on the romance: “I took my girlfriend on a date where we drove to this location deep into Canada, and I surprised her with a big hot-air balloon adventure, which was quite a bit of fun,” he said. “Those grand experiences always end up yielding the greatest memories – and the greatest romances.”
As for how their romantic adventure will ultimately end? Now that Riverdale is back in production, Sprouse and Reinhart are on “much better terms,” the insider told E! News. “Right now, it’s unclear where things stand, but it seems like they could be heading back in the direction of getting together.”