She’s opening up. Lili Reinhart explained that she was “afraid” to come out as bisexual during her relationship with Riverdale costar Cole Sprouse, who she dated on-and-off for almost three years before calling it quits in January.

“That’s why I didn’t come out as bisexual until I was not in a relationship anymore,” the actress, 24, said on the “LGBTQ&A” podcast episode released on Tuesday, September 22. “Because it’s easy for people to question, ‘Oh, but you’re with a man that’s straight.’ It’s like, well, Anna Paquin is married to a man, but she is bisexual.”

Lili continued, “I didn’t want to put my ex in a position, it seems like it would have been a little strange to come out when I was in a hetero relationship. It just seemed, I don’t know, maybe a little bit like I was looking for something else while I was in the relationship. So, I didn’t really think about coming out until after I was not in a relationship anymore. It just felt more organic that way.”

The Chemical Hearts star came out as bisexual via Instagram Stories on June 3, as a way to urge people to get out and protest amid the Black Lives Matter movement. She posted information about a LGBTQ+ march in protest of George Floyd‘s death while being arrested by the police, and in doing so, she opened up about her sexuality.

“Although I’ve never announced it publicly before, I am a proud bisexual woman,” she wrote at the time. “I will be joining this protest today. Come join.”

While talking to the “LGBTQ&A” podcast host Jeffrey Masters, Lili revealed what’s changed since she came out.

“I did have a couple of ladies sliding into my DMs, which I thought was funny, but also flattering,” she said. “Yeah. It was interesting to see the difference in my DMs after I came out, which was a nice little surprise … And also just like, I hate to say it, more quality human beings. People who genuinely are coming because they’re saying, ‘Oh, thank you for doing that.’ Or ‘I really appreciate you doing that,’ rather than some random person saying like, ‘Hey, wanna f–k?’ It just was more, I hate to say it, but just more quality messages, people genuinely who cared.”

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