Camila Mendes opens up on her 'hard' on-and-off relationship with 'Riverdale' co-star Charles Melton

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Camila Mendes has provided some insight into her love affair with her 'Riverdale' co-star Charles Melton whom she dated on-and-off for three years while they starred together on The CW show.

On the episode of 'Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard' on Monday, February 19, the 29-year-old said it was "hard" to work with Melton during the gaps in their relationship which spanned several seasons.

What did Camila Mendes say?

“We dated for a year and then broke up for about a year and then got back together for about a year," the Teen Choice Award winner recalled of the relationship which began in 2018 after Melton joined the show in season 2.

The duo then dated "like seven months" the second time around, she said and the pandemic played a major role in their rekindling. "It’s ‘cause it was Covid-19, that was a big catalyst. We broke up and then [it was] COVID and then the show was down for a long time so there was that big separation," Mendes said.

However, when they came back to film season 6, they were "both in other relationships," she continued per People, referring to her relationship with Grayson Vaughan, "but then, naturally, the two of us got out of our own relationships — not knowing the other did." "And we’re in lockdown, we can’t leave Vancouver.... And it’s, like, 'Maybe second time's the charm?' Maybe this time it will be different,” she said.

Camila Mendes admitted that it was tough to work with Charles Melton

Mendes admitted that it was hard to work with Melton "in the beginning" after their initial breakup, but she said she thinks she's "good" at handling separations — and "good at keeping things professional."

"Obviously, right when it happened, it’s hard and it’s emotional," she continued, adding "It’s the worst. But it’s hard because the timing of the show — it was jokes — because it was like, any time we started to hook up off set and knew that something was brewing, our characters would start dating. But they didn’t know. No one knew. The writers just would naturally make it happen.”

Camila Mendes says her breakup with Charles Melton 'still hurts'

When Mendes and Melton finally called it quits, it was "mutual." “It ended very peacefully and ‘wish you all the best,'" she said, adding "But it still hurts, no matter what."

Once it came time for 'Riverdale's seventh and final season, "there was definitely like an air of, ‘Zen, we’re past it.’ We worked together a lot as well but not in a romantic capacity," the actress shared.

“It went super smoothly last season. I think the whole last season felt very different in that way where we all really came together in the last season, case it’s like this is the last time we're all gonna be together in this room who knows when something like this will happen again," she added.

Camila Mendes is dating Rudy Mancuso since her split

Mendes has begun dating Rudy Mancuso following her split from Melton. Mendes and Mancuso met while working on Prime Video's 'Musica.' "I obviously had a little crush, but I didn't know if it was just a work crush or if it was real," she told People of the early days of her relationship with the musician. "And when I met him in person, it became very clear to me that it was real," she added.