It's been three years since Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart called it quits, and "The Suite Life of Zac and Cody" star is just now addressing the cheating rumors.
Sprouse recently appeared on the "Call Her Daddy Podcast" and opened up about his relationship with his Riverdale co-star, whom he dated for three years.
When he was photographed with other women after his split from Reinhart in early 2020, it led to people thinking there was infidelity involved.
"I took a moral stance that I was never going to talk about it, and it didn't need to be said," he said. "But I have realized now in hindsight that I probably should have said something almost right away.
"I didn't think the public needed to be afforded the luxury of my own heartbreak, or whatever the hell that was. But I'm realizing that that gray area created a lot of rumor and gossip that would end up affecting me and my mental health quite a bit afterwards. So, in an inverse way, the silence and mystery of that gray area created a fertile petri dish of bullshit that was my own mistake."
Sprouse also noted the difficulties of working alongside a partner, particularly after his relationship with Reinhart ended. The pair play on-screen love interests, Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones, in the hit CW series.
"I know we both did quite a bit of damage to each other," he said.
Sprouse also went on to reveal that the relationship ending was his decision.
"I left," he said. "But to be honest, when you're in a relationship for that long and someone leaves, it's not like someone is like, 'What?'"
Sprouse mentioned to host Alex Cooper that he thought the relationship lasted longer because the pair were working on the show together and said, "there was a lot of pressure towards other people."
“I think if I had loved myself a little more, I probably would have left a little earlier,” he said.
Reinhart did not respond to a request for comment.
In August 2020, Sprouse confirmed the split on Instagram and wrote that he was grateful he had "the chance to fall in love."
"I wish her nothing but the utmost love and happiness moving forward," he wrote. "All I'll say about it, anything else you hear doesn't matter."
