Cole Sprouse Says Lili Reinhart Relationship Was ‘As Real As It Gets’

Two years after Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart called it quits, the former ‘Suite Life’ spoke about the genuine love they had – and why he keeps his new romance with model Ari Fountier private.

It’s been nearly two years since Cole Sprouse revealed that he and his Riverdale co-star Lili Reinhart had “permanently split,” but the August 2020 Instagram post announcing the breakup “still regularly attracts new comments from heartbroken fans,” according to Willa Bennett’s profile of Cole, 29, in GQ Hype. While talking with the former “Cody” of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Willa pressed Cole about his relationship with Lili, 25. Cole said that though their three-year, on-and-off relationship had “all this public currency,” what they shared during that time was “as real as it gets.”

During the chat, Cole explained why he’s kept his current relationship with supermodel Ari Fountier private. After he and his twin brother, Dylan Sprouse – the “Zack” in Zack & Cody – found success at such a young age, Cole tried to spend most of his young childhood “away from the public eye.” This pressure led to Cole maintaining his privacy, but as Bennet notes for GQ Hype, Cole couldn’t share details about this romance online if he wanted to. “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.”

There had been rumblings that Cole and Lili had called it quits long before Sprouse confirmed the breakup on Instagram. Skeet Ulrich referred to the couple in the past tense (“I think they were a very cute couple”) during a May 2020 Instagram Live session. Days afterward, a Page Six report claimed that the couple separated before the COVID-19 pandemic, but they remained on good terms. A few months later, Cole decided to put all rumors and reports to rest. Cole said that he and Lili “initially separated in January of this year” before “deciding to more permanently split in March.

“What an incredible experience I had,” he continued, “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.”

Cole and Ari reportedly began dating in February 2021. The two were spotted holding hands while going on a walking tour of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Apparently, the love is still going strong between them.