Riverdale Star Cole Sprouse’s Girlfriend Ari Fournier Is A Model

Ever since confirming he had “permanently split” with Riverdale co-star and girlfriend of three years Lili Reinhart in August 2020, interest surrounding actor Cole Sprouse’s dating life has become a more complicated mystery than unmasking the CW show’s TBK villain. Shortly after the breakup, Sprouse was spotted hugging model Reiña Silva in October 2020, which incited dating rumors. But flash forward to October 2021, just as Season 5 of Riverdale is coming to a close, and it appears he has been in a loving relationship with model Ari Fournier for most of 2021.

Their first sighting together was in February 2021. Since then, the couple has kept their relationship relatively low-key, posting the occasional Instagram photo of one another, celebrating each other’s birthdays, and going on cute dates throughout the United States and Canada. They’ve also been seen gardening together on Sprouse’s twin brother Dylan’s Instagram story. Fournier and Sprouse celebrated their two-year anniversary in January.

Unfortunately, they’ve also had to deal with their own fair share of flack from Sprouse’s fans, some of whom are upset that, while Bughead might be canon on the show, it is no longer happening in real life. The 30-year-old actor has tried to downplay their impact, jokingly saying that he enjoys posting images of his girlfriend to “piss off the 14yos.”

Ahead of Riverdale’s Season 7 premiere on March 29, here is everything you need to know about Cole Sprouse and Ari Fournier’s relationship.

Cole & Ari’s First Public Hangouts

Although it’s not clear how the two met and began dating, photos of the pair holding hands began to appear online in late February 2021 after they were spotted on a walk together in Vancouver. According to Page Six, the couple went for a cute walk around the city and later had “brunch in the city’s historic Gastown neighborhood.” A few days later, Sprouse and Fournier were seen grabbing coffee together arm-in-arm in Vancouver on March 7. Since then, the couple has gone on a bunch of cute dates in the Los Angeles area throughout their relationship.

Ari Is A Model & Has A YouTube Channel

The 23-year-old model is from Montreal, Canada, and shared a glimpse into her fast-paced life and upbringing on her YouTube channel. In a Q&A video, Fournier revealed that she kickstarted her modeling career at age 15 when an agency reached out to her after spotting her on Instagram. Since then, her career has continued to gain traction around the globe — citing jobs in Barcelona and China — and she eventually signed on with Elite Model Management.

In addition to modeling, Fournier also shares travel vlogs and makeup/hair tutorials on her YouTube channel, although she hasn’t posted since August 2020. Most notably in her Q&A, which was posted in April 2020, Fournier revealed she was in a then-four-year-long relationship. While it’s not certain when her last relationship ended, both Fournier and Sprouse share a similar path of separating from a long-term relationship prior to dating one another.

Cole & Ari’s Instagrams Of Each Other

When it came to posting about each other on Insta, Sprouse was the first to share a sweet photo of Fournier in July. He also used the moment to jokingly stand up to fans who were upset to see him dating someone new. In addition to publishing the photo, he shared a few extra images of Fournier on his Instagram Story and wrote “time to piss off the 14yos again,” per E!

Sprouse and Fournier also shared cute photo collections to commemorate each other’s birthdays in August 2021. Fournier’s romantic photo collection for Sprouse’s 29th birthday saw the pair cuddling and watching the sunset together. “I’m very happy you were born ❤️ Happy birthday my love @colesprouse,” she wrote.

She also shared a sweet tribute for his 30th birthday in 2022, writing beneath a carousel of images: “Hard to describe with a couple photos how much fun we have together & how much I love celebrating life everyday with you. I’m truly the luckiest girl in the world 🤍 Happy birthday my love, here’s to 30 🎉❤️‍🔥”

Sprouse, however, took a very different approach to Fournier’s 23rd birthday wishes, as his hilarious photo set featured images of Fournier mid-bites of pasta, burgers, and ice cream. “Birthday girl gunna beat my ass for these. ❤️💋” he added.

What Cole Has Said About Ari

Though he keeps things pretty quiet when it comes to his current love life, Sprouse opened up about their relationship during a March 2023 interview with the Call Her Daddy podcast. “The current relationship I’m in has woke me up to what real compatibility and trust looks like in a way that I have never had before,” he said. “It’s been two years and some change and it’s felt like a week... It’s been incredible. I’ve never experienced this level of compatibility and it’s made me look back on my youth and go, ‘Well, you really didn’t know,’ which is nuts.”