There’s a Reason Madelaine Petsch Is So Public About Her Relationship on Social Media

Take one look at Madelaine Petsch’s Instagram, and you’ll notice something refreshing: She’s extremely open about her relationship with actor Travis Mills, whom she’s been with for roughly a year. Her recent stream of photos alone—like this one of the couple eating Sweet Tart Ropes (it’s spon-con, but whatever), or this casual elevator selfie they took on Valentine’s Day—proves this. He’s everywhere. The candor with which Petsch talks about—and shows—her relationship is a stark contrast to most celebrities, who typically prefer to keep their personal lives out of the public eye. (Looking at you, Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse.)

But Petsch’s transparency with her fans about Mills is 100 percent intentional. “I think my generation is extremely cynical about love,” she told us at PaleyFest over the weekend. “I’m a huge advocate of showing my relationship online because love does exist, and I think it’s so important for our generation to know that love will win. No matter who you love, what you love, it will win.”

Petsch continued, “I feel like I see so much online of people being cynical about never being able to find love and it’s become, like, cool. You don’t need it by any means. You can live without it, and you can totally be self-independent and happy. But you can also be in a great relationship that’s rewarding and loving and caring—and that exists.”

The cynicism Petsch describes here is something she herself has felt in the past. “Before I met Travis, I felt that way for a year. I was fully single and didn’t talk to anybody,” she explained. “And then I met him and was like, ‘Oh my God, this is what they say.’ It sounds patronizing when they say, ‘When you know, you know,’ but [now] I know.”

Petsch, who plays Cheryl Blossom on Riverdale, met Mills after he sent her a message on Facebook in January 2017 congratulating her on Riverdale. A DM turned into a movie date, which ultimately became a relationship. “He’s taught me how to be selfless and how to love, because I never knew I could love like that. I think that’s so interesting,” Petsch told us. “He’s said I do the same thing for him. We are extremely supportive of each other’s careers. We always have business ideas together. He’s my partner, and that’s what I love.”

Interestingly, it seems like Cheryl is developing a relationship similar to this on Riverdale—with Toni Topaz. Petsch didn’t mention Toni by name during our interview, but she did reveal Cheryl’s newest plot point on the show—getting sent to Sisters of Quiet Mercy for gay conversion therapy—will end nicely because of a certain someone who has her back.

“Something good does come out of [the Sisters of Quiet Mercy storyline],” she said. “It doesn’t have to really do with her mom as much as someone else coming for her and being there for her and loving her in a way that she’s never been loved before.”

Cough, Toni, cough. Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8:00 P.M. ET on The CW.