Madelaine Petsch is eager to set the record straight about sex—or, more precisely, the lack thereof with her *Riverdale* co-stars, despite recent remarks from KJ Apa. "May I clear the air about *Riverdale*? I’d love to do this on air," Petsch declared to Alex Cooper during the September 17 episode of the *Call Her Daddy* podcast. "Recently, an article surfaced claiming we all ‘slept around’ on set. Let me be crystal clear: I didn’t lay a finger on anyone from that show. Not even with a 10-foot pole."
The 31-year-old actress, who portrayed the fiery Cheryl Blossom on the CW series (2017–2023), doubled down: "Let me repeat that once more: I didn’t sleep with a single person on *Riverdale*. Zero contact. Period. Thank you for attending my TED Talk."
Petsch, who was 22 when *Riverdale* premiered, emphasized her stance on keeping personal and professional lives separate. "I don’t mix business with pleasure like that," she said. "I’ve never hooked up with a co-star."
She revealed that fellow cast member Cole Sprouse had actually warned her before filming the pilot. "Cole pulled me aside during the first episode and said, ‘Mads, if I could give you one piece of advice: don’t sleep with any of your co-stars. Period,’" she recalled. "And I was like, ‘Got it. No problem.’"
Ironically, Sprouse himself dated co-star Lili Reinhart from 2017 to 2020. They weren’t the only pair to spark a romance: Camila Mendes and Charles Melton also dated on-and-off for three years during the show’s run.
Petsch’s comments come in response to Apa—who played Archie Andrews—recently discussing how close-knit casts of teen dramas can become during filming. "You hook up with them. People sleep with each other," the 28-year-old told *Entertainment Weekly* in an August interview. "You have sex, and then things get… messy. Next thing you know, you’re fighting with them on set."
Apa’s *The Map That Leads to You* co-star Madelyn Cline, who joined him for the chat, inquired whether the same dynamics played out in Vancouver, where *Riverdale* filmed. "You just kind of sleep with them and see what happens," Apa replied. "It’s part of the deal."
He added, "For the record, I was a virgin for the first couple of years on that show."
The contrast between Petsch’s unequivocal boundaries and Apa’s candid reflections paints a vivid picture of the behind-the-scenes dynamics of a hit teen series—where passion, both on-screen and off, often blurs the lines between fiction and reality.
