Cole Sprouse talks losing virginity at 14, 'really hard' breakup with Lili Reinhart, 'bully' twin brother in recent podcast

Losing his virginity at 14 years old

Cole gained prominence as a Disney actor back in the day, having starred in the Disney Channel sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody along with Dylan, where they played as a set of mischievous twin brothers who live in a hotel's suite.

Inevitably, Cole moved on from the show as he aged and took on more mature projects, such as the Netflix crime drama series Riverdale. In the podcast, Alex became curious about his first relationship after he talked about his decision to get away from child acting and explore other options.

"You want to hear about how I lost my virginity?" Cole asked. "I was 14 when I lost my virginity, so this is still bowl cut guy, right," he revealed, referring to his hairstyle from his show in Disney.

"I was on a family trip in Florida and I met this girl who was older, so that's already dubious and in the first night, we kind of made out," he said.

Cole went on to share that all of his friends had already lost their virginity even at their young age. In the next evening, he went to her hotel room and invited her to go to the beach, where they sat on some chaise lounges.

"I looked at her and my heart was beating, and I finally mustered up enough courage to deliver a line that my brother has never let live down for me. I looked at her and I was like, 'So, are you like DTF (down to f*ck)?'" Cole said, mockingly mimicking the high-pitched voice of his younger self.

He said that his "cringey" pickup line didn't seem to bother his date as she nonchalantly accepted his invitation for sex.

The experience lasted only about 20 seconds, and Cole said that he never talked to the girl again. Following this, he became a "serial monogamist," choosing to have long-term relationships.

"I ended up regretting it a little bit afterwards because I hadn't made it special at all," he confessed.

His breakup with Riverdale castmate Lili Reinhart

Cole was eventually asked about his split from his Riverdale co-star Lili Reinhart, who played as Betty Cooper in the show and was his character's love interest in the story.

According to the 30-year-old actor, their breakup in 2020 had been a "really hard" decision for the both of them.

"I think the work thing got difficult because it was hard to suspend all the way we felt about each other, and it didn't afford us the distance to really overcome that," Cole reflected.

He added, "I know we both did quite a quite a bit of damage to each other, [but] we're good friends now, which is awesome. We work really well together now."

Cole eventually found a new flame to light up his heart in French-Canadian model Ari Fournier. Speaking about how things are going with her, Cole said, "I will say the current relationship I am in has woke me up to what real compatibility and trust looks like in a way that I have never had before."

"This is the first relationship where I can say, 'Damn, like, I have real trust here,'" he added.

How his twin brother had been a 'bully'

A common notion about twin siblings is that they mostly have similar personalities and interests, so much so that you can't tell them apart. But that idea does not seem to apply in the case of the Sprouse siblings as Cole revealed that Dylan was a bully in school. 

"Dylan, specifically, was a huge bully," Cole said as he recalled their childhood days in school. The pair were mostly homeschooled while growing up, but they still went to a public school at times.

"He would beat them up! And then I became known as the twin that would come up and be like, 'I'm so sorry for my brother. I apologize.'" 

Alex then noted out how their real-life personalities reflected that of their characters in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. In the show, Cole portrayed the more mature and smarter twin while Dylan played as the more self-centered sibling.

Cole agreed with Alex's observation, saying, ""I think the writers on Zack & Cody took a lot of cues from our actual personalities, but yeah, he was a real bully."

Dylan admitted to this in a past interview with the New York Daily News, describing himself as "not a good kid."

"I was always in trouble. And I was dealing with a lot of stuff at home that I was bringing to school and taking out on other people. And it wasn’t until I was kind of in a nurturing environment where I became a much better person," he said.

Cole and Dylan had their first major film role in the 1999 Adam Sandler flick Big Daddy. Cole is currently working on the upcoming horror comedy film Lisa Frankenstein, where he stars with Liza Soberano.

Watch the podcast episode below: