The former Shortland Street actor agreed, calling the act of violence “caring”.

KJ Apa candidly discusses some of his past extreme behaviours.

“I remember you ran like an ostrich, dude,” Dylan said. “You were there, I was there. He punched you, then you ran away.”

He called the pair’s relationship “beautiful”, as Apa said he had leaned on Cole during their six years of filming the show in Vancouver.

“Having Cole throughout that experience, I was grateful for it because he had been through all of that stuff that you guys went through,” Apa told Dylan. “A lot of us felt that way.”

Now a 29-year-old father, Apa said he has been sober for a year and a half, crediting the birth of his son Sasha for the change.

According to Impact, Apa said the extremes of his lifestyle extended into his eating habits.

“Anything that makes me feel good, I will abuse. It’s something that I’ve learned about myself. I mean, even eating.

“My relationship with eating, especially on [Riverdale], was bad. Dude, I used to eat donuts all day long, go back to my trailer, and throw up.”

He said he would often go “beast mode” and obsess over getting into shape, developing an unhealthy relationship with food.

“I p***ed on the rest of the food. I took it outside, and I p***ed all over it. And then I threw up all the food that I ate.”

KJ Apa is getting his big break this week in the US with two big projects. Photo/Supplied

He is not the first Riverdalestar to open up about struggling with an eating disorder on the set of the hit show.

Lili Reinhart, who played Betty Cooper on the teen drama, previously told Self Magazine she often “disassociated” through her work days because of her body dysmorphia.

“I really don’t like looking at season six imagery or pictures, because I know that 99% of my thoughts were about my body,” she said.