Riverdale season 2: Major character to be recast – creator searches for 'funny and sexy' actor

American teen drama Riverdale is recasting one of its classic characters, with it being reported this week that actor Ross Butler is leaving the show.

TV Line reports that the popular series, which was renewed for a second season by The CW, will see a new face as the popular character of Reggie as Butler has been forced to step down from the part due to scheduling issues.

The actor also stars in the hit Netflix series 13 Reasons Why as Zach Dempsey and was cast as Reggie for the show's first season. Due to Butler's frequent nods to 13 Reasons Why on his Instagram profile and 'inactivity' on his IMDb page, a potential second season of the show could be the reason for his Riverdale departure.

Nevertheless, it has been said that the Riverdale mainstay will be "virtually unrecognisable" by next season.

Series creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said in a statement: "We love what Ross did with the role of Reggie [this season], but because of his commitments to other projects, we couldn't use him nearly as much as we would have liked.

"[Next season], we want more Reggie on our show – he's Archie's rival! – and because Ross is unavailable to come back to Riverdale, we're looking for a new Reggie.

"Those are big shoes to fill, but we're confident we can find an actor who is as funny and sexy as Ross. And of course we all wish Ross the best," he said.

The actor set to take on the role of Reggie has not been confirmed, though the news of the change-up comes as it was reported earlier this week that Mark Consuelos has signed up for the role of Veronica's dad Hiram Lodge.

Riverdale is based on the characters by Archie Comics, and created quite the storm with its first series which aired in January 2017 with 13 episodes. Netflix quickly picked it up so that UK viewers could get a peek, and it went down well.

It features an ensemble cast with KJ Aapa in the role of Archie Andrews and Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, his next door neighbour who has a crush on him.