It was only back in 2015 that Jughead of Archie Comics fame was confirmed as asexual. Jughead writer Chip Zdarsky acknowledged that the character had tried to romantically pursue female characters in the past, but, seeing as the Archie series has enough romance in it as it is, he said that he would write the character as asexual.

“I think something like asexuality is underrepresented,” said Zdarsky back at New York Comic Con 2015. “And since we have a character who was asexual before people had the word for it, I’m continuing to write him that way.”

However, it looks like The CW does not share Zdarsky’s sentiments, and, in true teenage drama fashion, Jughead will be looking to hit it off with the ladies. Surprisingly, this is happening in spite of Cole Sprouse, the actor portraying Jughead, who says he fought for the character’s asexuality to remain part of the story.

It seems, however, that his efforts were largely ignored. “I come from an educational environment that really praises, as do I, the forms of representation that are otherwise lacking in our public media. But at the end of the day, I still had to do my job.”

While it seems like this particular battle was lost, Sprouse wants to assure fans that he will keep fighting to do right by the character. In an interview during the TCA press tour, the actor revealed that he will keep campaigning for the character’s asexuality and that Riverdale has room for people of all sexualities.

It’s unfortunate that an asexual character couldn’t make it to a mainstream show like The CW’s Riverdale. Asexual characters are few and far between, and could always use more representation in all forms of media, TV included.

Will you be tuning into Riverdale, or has this change left a bad taste in your mouth? Sound off in the comments below!