Nothing scandalous going on here.
During the Dec. 7 episode of Riverdale, rebranded as Rivervale for the five-episode special event, Madelaine Petsch and Lili Reinhart shared a special kiss while playing 1950s residents of the Archieverse town. While Petsch was portraying Poppy Blossom, an ancestor of her character, Cheryl Blossom, she clarified to E! News that Reinhart's new character in the flashback scene, named Bitsy, wasn't related to Betty Cooper at all.
"I definitely want to set the record straight," she exclusively shared. "In this lineage, we are not cousins...Fans seemed very concerned that it's two cousins kissing. It is not that. She plays a different character completely, she plays a Smith."
For those who need a Riverdale refresher, Betty and Cheryl are indeed related, as their respective great-grandfathers were brothers. So where does Poppy Blossom fall in the family tree? According to Petsch, "That was way before that ever happened."
We can't blame the fans for assuming it was a kissing cousins scenario, since Riverdale has already danced around the incest line in prior episodes. We're, of course, referring to Polly Cooper and Jason Blossom, who were unknowingly third cousins when they got together.
At least that wasn't an issue during the latest Riverdale episode. However, in typical Riverdale fashion, there was plenty of drama, as Poppy found herself falling for Bitsy, a housewife struggling to embrace her sexual identity.
"I love bringing representation to the screen," Petsch reflected. "It's really a heartbreaking story, to be honest. Bitsy doesn't feel comfortable being authentically who she is and coming out. Obviously, it was a very hard time to be a woman."
Reinhart wasn't the only actress that Petsch got to work closely with: In a present day scene, her character got to welcome Kiernan Shipka's Sabrina Spellman to Rivervale. After declaring her love for Shipka, Petsch told E! News that it was "really cool to see Cheryl explore her witchy side with somebody who's been doing it for a long time."
She added, "I would definitely love to see [Sabrina] come back."
Riverdale airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on the CW.