'Riverdale' Star Vanessa Morgan on Cheryl & Toni's Romantic Future: 'Relationships Will Blossom' (Exclusive)
Riverdale just dropped a Blossom bombshell!
On Wednesday night's all-new episode of the Archie Comics-inspired drama, Cheryl Blossom confessed a deep secret to new friend Toni Topaz, revealing that she was once in love with a girl named Heather. "She was my best friend in junior high," Cheryl explained to Toni through a stream of tears at Pop's. "She used to sleep over every weekend. Until one night, my mother caught us in the same bed. She said I was deviant."
After this tear-jerking episode filled with shocking revelations, chemistry-charged moments and lingering glances, ET called up Toni Topaz herself, actress Vanessa Morgan, to get the exclusive scoop on what's ahead for Cheryl and Toni (aka Choni!) and their "blossoming" relationship.
ETonline: It was so exciting to see that Cheryl and Toni are finally sharing some scenes together on this episode! Fans are already rooting for them – what was your reaction when you got to read this script?
Vanessa Morgan: When I read it, I was just so pumped. As you already know, Madelaine Petsch is one of my best friends, so finally getting to have scenes with her and have a story line with her is just so exciting.
In this episode, we learned that Cheryl was once in love with a girl named Heather, but her mother put a stop to those feelings and made her feel ashamed of them. How important is it for you as an actor to have a part in Cheryl's journey for acceptance?
VM: It's so important, and I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this [story line] and their parents shutting them down for loving who they love. I've said before, you can fall in love with people regardless of their gender, and I love being able to show that. I love how Cheryl is touching on that. She had put her walls up and had been holding back. You saw [her put her walls down] a little bit with Josie and she had a little crush there, but Cheryl is finally letting down her walls for Toni because Toni basically isn't falling for the tough exterior. She's just like, "Tell me what’s going on, because you're really hurting."
I'm glad you brought up Cheryl's crush on Josie, because it seemed like a random and abandoned storyline. Is that something that will get addressed in future episodes?
VM: Yeah, that was really random and I'm not sure where that would ever go. I personally feel like that was just a moment of Cheryl kind of giving a hint to the audience that she is bisexual. I'm not sure that they would ever touch on that again.
Looking forward, we now know that Cheryl is bisexual, Toni is bisexual, and the fans have already been rooting for this potential couple since before the characters had even met. What are the chances that Choni could actually be happening?
VM: Maybe they'll end up being friends. Maybe they'll end up being more, who knows? But I think you can kind of tell by the end of that episode that Toni has -- you know, Cheryl is a beautiful girl and there is probably some attraction there. I think Toni is probably excited that she found that out and is thinking, "Oh, wow! She's like me. She can fall in love with a person's soul too ,and not just focus on gender." I think that really intrigues Toni, so whatever ends up -- be it a friendship or more -- I think that's really exciting for Toni to have somebody that she can relate to.
What can you tease that's coming up next for Toni?
VM: I think you're going to see that relationships will blossom for Toni. You're going to see her more with all the characters and you're going to see her more with the female characters as well, which I think is really cool. And I think you're going to get to know Toni more and see that softer side. She doesn’t always have to be the super tough girl with the boys all the time. She can have a girls' night with the girls, and that's going to be really cool. But you're going to definitely see a relationship flourish with her and another character.
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
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