Riverdale hunk, 29, goes public with his model 'bestie'

KJ Apa has made it official.

The Riverdale star, 29, confirmed he's dating model Renée Wilkins at the Texas premiere of his new film, Jimmy, on Nov. 4, telling E! News: "It's great. She's my bestie."

Asked whether he knows she's the one, he answered: "Why not?"

"I'm all about manifesting," he added. "I think we manifest everything for ourselves, the positive and the negative. I try my best to be in the moment."

The pair made their red carpet debut in October, E! reports. Getty photographed them together at the New York premiere of Falling on Oct. 4, and they've barely left each other's side since. In Texas, Apa wore a navy pinstripe suit and Wilkins an off-the-shoulder ruched black gown, according to Comic Basics.

Who is Renée Wilkins?

Wilkins is a 29-year-old Los Angeles-based Kiwi model who juggled an international modeling career with finishing a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Otago, the NZ Herald reports.

She was at his side when he won the Spotlight Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival for his lead role in Jimmy, the Herald notes.

Asked about the relationship, she kept it short and sweet. "I just love that beast," she told the paper.

Apa previously dated French model Clara Berry for four years, from 2020 until 2024, E! reports. They share a son, Sasha, 5, who was born in September 2021, and they co-parent.

In February 2024, Berry said in a since-deleted TikTok: "Everything is better."

Apa has spoken about what his son means to him. On Andy Cohen's SiriusXM show in August 2025, he described "Sasha being a gift that saved my life."

Playing a legend

In Jimmy, Apa plays Jimmy Stewart in the years between his Oscar for The Philadelphia Story and his return from World War II, when he flew 20 combat missions over Europe and rose to colonel, according to Wikipedia. Jason Alexander plays studio boss Louis B. Mayer, Neal McDonough plays Stewart's father, and the film was shot in West Cork, Ireland.

It has been on a festival run since October: it opened the Heartland International Film Festival in Indianapolis on Oct. 8, closed the Washington West Film Festival two days later, and was the centerpiece gala at Newport Beach on Oct. 17, with Wilkins on his arm.

Reviews are mixed. Deadline's Pete Hammond called it "far more effective when focusing on his experiences in the war," while Screen Rant found Apa's impression "striking at times" but argued "this is an impression, not a real performance."

Jimmy is in theaters from Nov. 6, so expect to see plenty more of the couple on the press tour.