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Cole SprouseandLili Reinhartfirst met while filming their hit CW teen drama,Riverdale, and dated off and on until March 2020.
After the show’s premiere in January 2017, fans quickly noticed the couple’s on-screen chemistry as Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper (sometimes referred to jointly as Bughead), but their real-life romance wasn’t confirmed until theywalked the Met Gala red carpettogether in May 2018.
“It’s not something that we hide, or it’s not something that we show off,” Sprouse toldGQin February 2019. “It’s just something that exists.”
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While it’s unclear exactly when Reinhart and Sprouse first met, the pilot episode ofRiverdalewas filmed in March 2016. “Lili was a tough egg to crack,” Sprouse toldGlamourin 2018, regarding hisfirst impression of his costar. “She’s very shy at first and reserved. I think it was about halfway into the first season she started letting people in truly.”
Reinhart wasn’t so sure about Sprouse either. “I thought his voice was annoying,” she toldGlamour.“I was like, ‘That guy’s got an annoying voice.’ And now it’s grown on me, I guess.”
Fans pretty much started shipping Reinhart and Sprouse IRL afterRiverdalepremiered in January 2017. However, Sprouse first fanned the flames when he responded to a photo of Reinhart on Twitter in February, writing, “Tempt me!”
By March, fans were convinced “Sprousehart” was real after Sprouse shared a dreamy photo of his costar on Instagram.
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In July 2017,PEOPLEreported that Reinhart was spotted wearing Sprouse’s maroon blazer atEntertainment Weekly’sComic-Con Bash in San Diego. According to the report, the two were later seen “canoodling, holding hands and kissing.”
Sprouse and Reinhart happily posed with fans whilevacationing in Hawaiiin early January.
The pair were alsophotographed returningto Vancouver, where they reportedly signed autographs and took selfies withRiverdalefans at an airport after clearing customs.
The actors werephotographed kissingin public for the first time while in the City of Love, where they were attendingRivercon, a three-dayRiverdalefan convention.
TheRiverdalecostars added fuel to the fire when theyboth shared photosfrom at Cuixmala, a 5-star hotel and resort located on Mexico’s Pacific coast that bills itself as “perfect for vacations and romantic getaways.”
On April 17, Sprouse, who is an avid photographer, shared a photo of Reinhart’s shadow on his Instagram feed while Reinhart tagged Sprouse in her own post.
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Though Reinhart toldHarper’s Bazaarthat she wasn’t “going to talk about my love story” in July, she made her feelings crystal clear in abirthday tributeto Sprouse a month later.
“It seems as if the world would still be a stranger to me, if not for you. I’m so thankful that our paths intertwined to form this beautiful adventure,” she wrote alongside a photo of Sprouse. “Happy birthday, my love.”
Tocelebrate Reinhart’s 22nd birthday, Sprouse shared an intimate photo of the actress. “Both the birthday and the gift,” he captioned his photo. “My little muse, happy birthday my love.”
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Five months after going public with their relationship, Reinhartopened up about their romanceforTeen Vogue’sOctober cover story. “I like to go on adventures with Cole,” she told the publication. “Truly, adventures. He takes me to places where I’m like, ‘How did you find this?’ He’s made me see these things that I would have never seen otherwise. It’s escapism, which is so beautiful and wonderful.”
For their first Thanksgiving holiday as a couple, Reinhart took Sprouse home to spend time with her family. To commemorate the event, Reinhartshared multiple photosof Sprouse playing with her dogs on Instagram Stories.
Though the couple was known for keeping their relationship private in interviews, Reinhart and Sprouse were more comfortable sharing their affection on Instagram. On Valentine’s Day, Reinhart shared a smiling sunset selfie with Sprouse,writing, “You make me very happy. Happy Valentine’s Day, my love.”
Sprouseposted his own tributeto his girlfriend on Instagram with the caption, “Quite actually the only thing keeping me sane is @lilireinhart.”
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Reinhart gave Sprouse asweet kiss on the cheekat the Los Angeles premiere of his movie,Five Feet Apart. The actress was all smiles in a pale blue-gray lace dress as she walked the carpet with Sprouse, who paired a black-and-white striped shirt with a black suit.
A few days after the pair reportedlykept their distance from each otheratEntertainment Weekly’sComic-Con party in San Diego,Us WeeklyandE! Newsreported that the couple called it quits.
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“Their friends didn’t really expect them to last in the long-run,” a source toldPEOPLE. “At the end of the day, their personalities are very different and their lifestyles often clashed.”
The source added, “Things have felt super heavy in the relationship for a while, and it got to be too much. They’re both very professional though and trying to be as amicable and friendly as possible.”
However, it’s worth noting that the actors were interviewed separately for the cover story in May. “I’m so glad we’re making your job more difficult,” Sprouse told the interviewer with a laugh.
In her interview, Reinhart revealed that she initially wanted to be outspoken about their relationship, but Sprouse urged discretion.“At first, I didn’t want things private,” Reinhart said. “Now that I’m X amount of years in, I do appreciate the privacy we have, that he’s encouraged me to take. No one knows how long we’ve been together, and no one will until we’re ready to say it. No one knows how we fell in love, except for our close friends and us. It’s really special.”
After denying breakup rumors, Reinhartshared a “sappy” poemin honor of Sprouse’s 27th birthday.
“I tried to find a poem that I could send to you. Because my words were failing me. But I searched and found nothing that did you justice,” she wrote alongside a photo of Sprouse.
“All of these love poems can’t get it right. No one else’s words could ever fit. They haven’t known the fortune it is to love you,” the actress continued, before calling the tribute a “sappy nighttime birthday poem for @colesprouse.”
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While attendingVariety’sPower of Young Hollywood at The H Club Los Angeles, theRiverdalestartoldEntertainment Tonightthat while he was “incredibly” annoyed over the recent breakup rumors, he was able to laugh them off.
“I don’t care. That’s the nature of our industry,” Sprouse said. “I think you have to poke fun of it a little bit. It’s kind of something you sign up for, but as long as can keep it light and fun, it’s all good.”
Despite ongoing breakup rumors, Reinhartcalled Sprouse her “boyfriend"and discussed their plans to wear a couple’s Halloween costume in an interview withCoveteur.
“Lil @lilireinhart was born on a Friday the 13th and haven’t I just been so lucky ever since?” Sprouse captioned hisInstagram tribute, which featured the couple embracing (and kissing) in a photo booth.
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In anInstagram postshared in August 2020, Sprouse confirms he and Reinhart initially separated in January 2020. However, as far as the public knew at the time, the couple was still together.
“Lili and I initially separated in January of this year, deciding to more permanently split in March,” Sprousewould later writein the August Instagram post.
Sprouseslammed"baseless accusations” in a lengthy Instagram story message on April 19. “I tolerate a lot of rumors and slander from people online claiming to be my fans. Fans who feel entitled to my privacy precisely because I never indulge them,” he wrote. “But attacking my friends, baseless accusations, leaking my address and sending death threats are all qualities of insanity and fanaticism.”
Sprouse didn’t say exactly what he was referring to, but earlier in the week rumors began circulating on social media that the actor had cheated on Reinhart. He called out followers again with another message a few days later, writing, “When I first stepped into a public relationship this was one of the foreseeable consequences. And while I truly never intended to indulge any part of my private life to the ravenous horde, it’s clear my restraint in updating them has allowed them to push their own agenda onto my habits and lifestyle.”
He continued, “So in conclusion — please eat my delectable plump ass. (Making me post a g—damn white font insta story like a twice divorced mother of three.)”
Reinhart alsoshared a message of her ownin a since-deleted tweet. “Twitter is actually the most toxic form of social media,” she wrote on Twitter, according toSeventeen.“People are a—— for the sake of being a——. Do you not understand karma? It’s fine if you don’t, you’ll understand when it bites your miserable a—.”
The actress also reportedly shared on her Instagram Story: “Dear everyone on social media, Don’t put down people for the sake of putting them down. Don’t be a f—— asshole. The world doesn’t need anymore of that s—.”
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In May, a source toldPEOPLEthat the on-and-off couple was “currently not together.”
In August, Reinhart discussed facing her depression “head-on” during the pandemic in an interview withRefinery29.“The last couple of months have probably [been] the most emotional few months of my entire life and my therapist [told] me, ‘Your body’s going through withdrawal from love. You’re used to having this exchange of happy chemicals between you and the person that you’re with,’ " the actress said, in part. “In moments of my life, I have dropped every ounce of pride that I had just to be like, ‘Love me. Please take the pain away for a day, a second, an hour,’ just so I can feel that fix again.”
However, after fans related the interview to her rumored breakup with Sprouse, Reinhart clarified her words onTwitter. “Quotes taken from my most recent interview are not about a ‘breakup,’ " she wrote. “They are about the depression I’ve felt over these last few months. Tired of people taking my words out of context and piecing together their own story for clickbait.”
Reinhart continued, “I would never speak so candidly about something as personal as a breakup. That’s incredibly private. I was addressing my depression.”
In arare public statementabout their relationship, Sprouse confirmed he and Reinhart split in March after separating in January. “What an incredible experience I had, I’ll always feel lucky and cherish that I had the chance to fall in love,” he wrote. “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.”
In an interview withGQ,Sprousesharedthat fans of “Sprousehart” have reacted poorly to his current relationship with French-Canadian modelAri Fournier. Still, despite any negativity and feeling “forced” to discuss Reinhart in interviews, he described his former relationship as “as real as it gets.”
Sprouse spoke about his breakup with Reinhart on an episode of theCall Her Daddypodcast.
“It was really hard. It was really hard for both of us,” the actor said. “I think the work thing got difficult because it was hard to suspend all the way we felt about each other and it didn’t afford us the luxury of distance to really overcome that.I know we both did quite a bit of damage to each otherin that.”
He went on to say that he and Reinhart are “good friends now,” adding that they “work really well together.”
In an interview with Vulture, Sprouse shared that he and Reinhart got concerningthreats from fansafter announcing their split in 2020.
“I get a lot of stuff sent to my house or my loved ones’ houses. Death threats, really nasty, honestly criminal stuff,” he said.
source: people.com