Lili Reinhart & Cole Sprouse Are Playing Coy About Whether They're Still Dating

Suffice it to say that Bughead's real-life relationship status has kept fans guessing as much as even the twistiest Riverdale episode. So when it comes to the question of if Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse are still together, the costars, who play Betty and Jughead on the CW teen drama, aren't spilling any secrets. In fact, they've been messing with fans' heads almost as long as rumors of Reinhart and Sprouse's breakup have existed. And with both nominated for several Teen Choice Awards — including a joint Bughead nod for Choice Ship — at the Aug. 11 ceremony, they're sure to add more fuel to the fire very soon.

"I think you have to poke fun of it a little bit," Sprouse told Entertainment Tonight on Aug. 6 of his response to all the speculation. "It's kind of something you sign up for, but as long as can keep it light and fun, it's all good."

Their lighthearted approach to addressing their love life seems to indicate that they're still together — or at the very least extremely amicable exes. Exactly why do people think they broke up in the first place? The source of the rumors were, well, unnamed sources.

In late July, media outlets, including E! News and Us Weekly, reported — via several insiders — that Reinhart and Sprouse split after two years of dating. According to People, the pair even "kept their distance from each other" during Entertainment Weekly‘s July 20 Comic-Con party in San Diego. Adding confusion to the situation, however: Reinhart and Sprouse sat next to each other during the CW series' panel the next day, and Reinhart even joked about the seating arrangement on Instagram.

“Please don’t put me between these two ever again,” Reinhart captioned a photo in which she's sitting with Sprouse and KJ Apa (aka Riverdale's Archie) at Comic-Con.

The next plot twist came when Sprouse and Reinhart jointly appeared on the cover of W magazine. In the profile, which hit the web on July 25, the writer noted that the duo did not want to be interviewed together back in May and even went so far as to confirm that they'd gone on to "part way romantically" in real life.

So it seemed Bughead shippers had their answer, right? Well, not quite. Both Reinhart and Sprouse responded to W's story on social media, sowing new seeds of doubt as to whether or not they were actually still together off screen. "BREAKING: A reliable source has confirmed that none of you know sh*t," Reinhart captioned an Instagram photo of their W cover.

For his part, Sprouse shared the same image and quipped: "UNPRECEDENTED: Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart consume the flesh of ‘reliable sources’ to fuel their bacchanalian sex cult."

So was that an official denial that they'd broken up? Still unclear — and neither actor offered any further clarity either. They have, however, continued to have fun with the rampant "are they or aren't they?" conversations.

On Aug. 6, for example, Variety shared a short video of Sprouse on IG. In a since-deleted comment, which was captured by several outlets, Reinhart wrote, "Sources say he's single now. Is he available?" After all, she'd seemed to put all those breakup rumors to rest days earlier when Sprouse celebrated his 27th birthday. On Aug. 4, Reinhart posted a tribute to Sprouse in the form of a "sappy nighttime birthday poem." She wrote:

"I tried to find a poem that I could send to you. Because my words were failing me. But I searched and found nothing that did you justice. All of these love poems can’t get it right. No one else’s words could ever fit. They haven’t known the fortune it is to love you."

So when ET caught up with Sprouse two days later, they, of course, asked if he'd reciprocate with some poetry of his own when Reinhart turns 23 on Sept. 13. "I'm not a poet. I do not write," he admitted. "I'll figure out something beautiful."

Whether or not they broke up and got back together — or never split in the first place — all signs seem to point to them very much being in a relationship now. Don't expect them to come out and explicitly say so one way or another though. After all, they've made no secret about wanting to keep their private lives, well, private.

"At first, I didn’t want things private," Reinhart revealed of her and Sprouse's relationship in their recent W profile. "Now that I’m X amount of years in, I do appreciate the privacy we have, that he’s encouraged me to take. No one knows how long we’ve been together, and no one will until we’re ready to say it. No one knows how we fell in love, except for our close friends and us. It’s really special."

Sprouse has frequently echoed those sentiments. As he previously explained to GQ in February: "It's not something that we hide, or it's not something that we show off. It's just something that exists."

For now, Sprouse and Reinhart seem intent on keeping people guessing, though — and getting lots of entertainment in doing so.