Riverdale's Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart kept the majority of their two-year romance and later breakup private despite the public's fascination with the young Hollywood couple. But in a new GQ
interview published today, Sprouse is now ready to address what their dynamic was really like behind the scenes and how he privately struggled with the fame and attention Riverdale put on him and his romances.
Sprouse and Reinhart ended their relationship for good in August 2020. Sprouse is now dating model Ari Fournier.
Although Reinhart and Sprouse's relationship had “all this public currency,” what he and Reinhart shared was “as real as it gets,” he told GQ. The outlet revealed that the CW “leaned into their relationship as a promotion opportunity for Riverdale,” but Sprouse hated showcasing their love story in public.
He added that the January 2020 breakup was messy in part because of the fan reaction to it, with some reporting him to brands he worked with. Sprouse hadn't intended to address the split publicly but “he felt forced to” in an Instagram.
He wrote in that post, “Lili and I initially separated in January of this year, deciding to more permanently split in March. What an incredible experience I had, I’ll always feel lucky and cherish that I had the chance to fall in love. I wish her nothing but the utmost love and happiness moving forward. All I’ll say about it, anything else you hear doesn’t matter. Also her movie comes out soon! I’m sure she’s just as incredible in it as everything else she does. Thanks guys ❤️”
Now, not that he wants to, but Sprouse feels like he can't share anything about his romance with Fournier. “Followers report everything about Ari and me as bullying, and it gets taken down pretty immediately,” he said. “Even on my other friends' accounts, it gets taken down.”
Reinhart tweeted in August 2020 that she intends to keep her experience processing the split private. “I would never speak so candidly about something as personal as a breakup,” she said. “That’s incredibly private.”