Relationships

The Reason Madelaine Petsch Is So Public About Her Relationship Is So, So Important

by Candice Jalili
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

If I were a celebrity, I would imagine I'd be very Beyoncé-like. OK, I feel like that was treasonous to say, so let me back track a little. I wouldn't BE Beyoncé. No one could compare to Beyoncé. But I would be very private about my personal life, much like Beyoncé. I would try my best to keep all aspects of my life to myself, including my romantic relationships. But not all celebrities share the same philosophy. For instance, I bet you've never caught yourself wondering, "Who is Madelaine Petsch dating?"

On the off chance you don't already know who the Riverdale star (who plays Cheryl Blossom) is dating, a quick scroll through her Instagram profile will tell you everything you need to know. She's been dating actor Travis Mills for about a year, and from the looks of it, the two are very much in love. You see, Petsch isn't shy about her relationship at all. While many other celebrities seem to go out of their way to make their relationships as private and under the radar as possible (which, I mean, that's their prerogative, of course), Petsch is totally open about hers.

The risks of being so incredibly open about your relationship, especially when you live in the spotlight, are obvious. The openness makes you available for public scrutiny and makes it easier than ever for rumors to start swirling. But Petsch isn't worried about that. In fact, she told Glamour that she chooses to be open about her love life as a means of championing a greater cause.

By posting pictures of her and her bae online, she hopes to serve as a reminder to her fans that love really does win, after all, according to Glamour. "I think my generation is extremely cynical about love," she told the publication 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."

Moreover, she wanted to remind any cynical fans out there that love can, indeed, find them. She 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.

I have a feeling many of us can relate to the sort of cynicism she's talking about. You know that feeling where you've been ghosted for what feels like the 13th time in a row, and you haven't been with anyone since your ex who wasn't even ever really your partner? Yeah, same. And Petsch felt that, too.

"Before I met Travis, I felt that way for a year. I was fully single and didn’t talk to anybody," she told Glamour. "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."

So, yeah, the two are super in love, and according to Petsch, he's introduced her to a whole new world of love, essentially. "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 Glamour. "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."

As if this story isn't already adorable (and millennial) enough as is, just wait until you hear how they met. Because oh, you know, they just met when Mills slid into her DMs on Facebook. Don't worry; it wasn't creepy or anything. In January of 2017, according to Cosmopolitan, he slid into her DMs to say congrats on landing her role on Riverdale. While most DMs usually amount to nothing, theirs turned into much more. Glamour reports that the two went on a movie date following the DM and, from there, the rest was history.

So, hey, next time you feel like there's a 500 percent chance that you're going to die alone in an attic with 37 cats, take a scroll through Petsch's Instagram and remind yourself that love really is out there — and it'll find everyone.

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