Madelaine Petsch is best known for playing Riverdale‘s Cheryl Blossom. She’s the sass queen with the sharpest one-liners, and the gal who is always in the mood for chaos. So naturally, it’s easy for fans to associate the Cheryl’s fire attitude with Madelaine herself. But let it be known – she so doesn’t take after those mean girl ways. She is an actress, after all.

madelaine petsch cheryl blossom

If you’re as big of a Riverdale fan as we are over here at J-14, then you might already be familiar with Madelaine’s YouTube channel she started a short while after the show took off. Turns out, the only reason she really started it was to get fans to know the ~real~ Madelaine – not just the role she plays on TV. In a recent video, the star opened up about all of her 2017 achievements – and naturally, creating her YouTube channel was one.

“August 16th, I put out my first YouTube video ever,” she said. “Can you believe it? I actually originally made my YouTube channel just to put out like 10 videos to show you guys who I was as a person. There were a lot of questions about whether or not I was as mean as Cheryl in real life, and I thought this was a great way to outreach to you guys. Ultimately, I fell in love with creating, and editing is amazing – and I’ve realized that I actually love directing because of YouTube.”

But what started out as simply an outlet to have fans get to know her resulted in a whole new passion she never knew she had.

“She added, “So there’s a whole new world opened up to me just because of YouTube. So thank you guys for watching, for hanging out with me, for giving me the inspiration to continue doing this – just helping me find a new passion of mine.”

We can’t wait for more videos in 2018!

Watch: All the Riverdale Shops You Need to Know

Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.