My computer is 32 bit and when VLC is installed it seems to be the 64 bit version.
32-bit apps are no longer supported in version 5.
V5 is only available as a 64-bit app and will only run on 64-bit versions of Windows. It's officially supported on Windows 10 and 11 (x64).
When updating an app which is offered by its vendor in 32-bit or 64-bit versions (like VLC is), V5 downloads the 64-bit update and will replace the existing 32-bit version without warning. If the app is only offered by the vendor as a 32-bit app, V5 will still download and install the 32-bit update.
You indicate you are on a 32-bit version of Windows OS, so are you still using V4? If you're using V4, I suspect that it may now be using the same update definitions for V5 which would result in a 64-bit update of the app being downloaded as explained in the previous paragraph.