A refresher for the uninitiated: Bughead is the couple name for Riverdale characters Betty and Jughead. In real life, Betty and Jughead are played by Lili Reinhart and my obsession Cole Sprouse. Cole and Lili are supposedly dating. The rumours have been around for a while and neither of them have explicitly denied that they’re a thing. So, they either want us to think they’re together or they actually are together. I’ll let you decide which reality you want to live in. I want it to be true. However, they aren’t always great for the show. Remember the demise of Brooke and Lucas prompted by Chad Michael Murray being a sh-tty husband and Sophia Bush filing for divorce? Or when the Joey and Pacey’s chemistry significantly cooled after Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson broke up? Same goes for Elena and Damon after Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder ended their off-screen relationship. Have I proven to you yet how much teen TV I watch?
Riverdale season two premieres tomorrow. Conveniently, the first photos of Lili and Cole traveling together arrived this weekend. You can see photos of them leaving Vancouver here. I’m not saying that two co-workers can’t travel together platonically but I am saying that I don’t think this is what is happening here. It was a long weekend. They left on Saturday and landed back in Vancouver last night. They’re even coordinating outfits. So, again, they’re either f-cking or they really want us to think they’re f-cking.
A couple days ago, Lili vehemently shot down rumours that she’s dating KJ Apa. Where’s the same indignation when it comes to the Cole rumours? Here’s what Cole had to say about the cast coupling up to EW last month.
“Since the show began, people have wanted Lili and I to be together. People have wanted Lili and Cami to be together. People have wanted KJ and I to be together. People have wanted every actor on this show to be in a union that they could make real and talk about. So I think that kind of discussion, especially because it’s based so much on rumor and hearsay, needs to be taken with a grain of salt. We’re all still human lives that are interacting with the source material…[but] I think as professional actors we can pat ourselves on the back for that and go, "This was a success." It was such a success that people want to see it in real life.”
That was a lot of words to say absolutely nothing, wasn’t it? The new season of Riverdale will spell trouble for Betty and Jughead but Bughead shippers now have Cole and Lili’s real life romance to hold on to through the tough times. Coincidence or conspiracy?