That boy is hers. Ariana Grande is dating her Wicked costar, Ethan Slater, and she has made it abundantly clear that their relationship couldn’t be more pure—despite the news they were an item dropping just 72 hours after the star’s divorce announcement broke. Cool-cool-cool.
At the time, insiders shared that the singer was still invested in her marriage to dancer Dalton Gomez when the musical movie began filming back in December 2022. However, a source told Us Weekly that the couple were “having issues” and “the distance did not help.” Meanwhile, Ethan—who is playing the role of the Munchkin Boq in Wicked—was also married, to his high school sweetheart whom he shares a child with. Still super-duper pure though…
The whole sitch got so messy that in a recent cover interview, Ariana came out to defend her beau, slamming insinuations he had cheated on his then-wife. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves! Scroll on for the complete romantic timeline of the Wicked twosome… including what Ariana just said about their relationship.
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ariana & ethan, a timeline...
December 2022: Wicked begins filming
Wicked began filming and Ariana was defying gravity because she was set to play the famed good witch Glinda, opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba. It isn’t clear if Ariana and Ethan met right off the bat, or crossed paths later in the filming process.
January 2023: Ariana & Dalton allegedly split
Rumours that divorce was on the horizon for Ariana and Dalton began swirling early in the year. A TMZ report from July claimed that the couple separated in January.
March 2023: Ariana & Ethan spark romance rumours
While rumours of a romance between Ariana and Ethan wouldn’t be confirmed until later in the year, a source told the Daily Mail in August that Ariana and Ethan “were all over each other” at Michelle Yeoh’s Oscars Party in March.
May 2023: Things get... confusing
Ethan posted a Mother’s Day tribute to his then-wife, Lilly Jay on Instagram, featuring photos of their 9-month-old son. Fans were quick to spot that Grande had also liked this post. Interesting…
July 2023: Confirmation of Ariana's divorce... as well as Ethan's breakup
It’s official, Ariana and Dalton are getting a divorce. After the was singer spotted at Wimbledon without her wedding ring, TMZ dropped the news, followed by a speedy confirmation from People. A source shared with People that Ariana and Dalton “have been quietly and lovingly working on their friendship.” Only a few days later, a source told Us Weekly “Ariana and Ethan have only recently begun seeing each other, but they have a lot of fun together and are enjoying each other’s company.”
At this point in time, there was still no official separation or divorce underway between Ethan and his wife, Lilly, People reported. Promptly after news of his relationship with Ariana broke the internet, the actor went private on Instagram.
Now here’s where it gets messy—on July 21st, Page Six dropped a report revealing that Ethan’s wife was “completely blindsided” by his relationship with Ariana, according to close sources. “It’s horrible. They were high school sweethearts. They have a baby! She’s a wreck,” an insider told the outlet.
“Ethan sat Lilly down a few days before the news broke about him and Ariana and said that he wanted a divorce,” the source added. “Lilly never saw it coming!”
If that wasn’t enough, Us Weekly reported that Ethan informed his wife of this alleged affair just a few days before the news became public. According to the outlet, their relationship was barely hidden on the set of Wicked too. “Ariana and Ethan weren’t careful,” the magazine reports. “They’d hold hands on set in between takes. They were sloppy and not hiding it.”
After Ethan officially filed divorce papers in New York City on July 26—confirmed by Us Weekly—the other divorcee-to-be, Lilly, made a statement to Page Six. “[Ariana’s] the story, really. Not a girl’s girl,” she said. Lilly added, “My family is just collateral damage.”
September 2023: More details on Ethan & Ariana's romance emerge
Despite the surge of negative publicity surrounding the new couple, a source attempted to put a lighter spin on the relationship when discussing it with People. “While this entire situation has been blown out of proportion, it’s much different than what has been portrayed in public,” an alleged friend told the publication. “They are just trying to navigate their new relationship in private.”
Another source claimed their romance was much less scandalous than what was initially sold to the public. “The truth is, Ariana and Ethan didn’t begin seeing each other until after both parties were separated, respectfully,” a “close family friend” said. The pair are “doing their best to balance the fact that they are in the public eye with the desire to be respectful to all parties involved.”
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December 2023: Ariana seemingly addresses the scandal
The pop star shared a personal letter to her fans via an Instagram story, that seemingly addressed her controversial new relationship. “I’ve never felt more at the mercy of and in acceptance of what life was screaming to teach me,” she wrote. “I have never felt more pride or joy or love while simultaneously feeling so deeply misunderstood by people who don’t know me, who piece whispers together and make what they want out of me and their assumptions of my life.”
March 2024: Ariana drops her album, and pleads with fans to stop the hate
Once her new album dropped, Ariana swiftly posted another letter via her Instagram Stories to her fans, requesting that they stop sharing “hateful messages” to individuals who fans had concluded were the source of inspiration for some of her lyrics.
“Hi, I just wanted to say anyone that is sending hateful messages to the people in my life based on your interpretation of this album is not supporting me and is absolutely doing the polar opposite of what I would ever encourage (and is also entirely misinterpreting the intention behind the music).”
April 2024: Jeff Goldblum shares a pic of the pair
Some of the Wicked cast huddled together for a quick mirror selfie that featured Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, and… you guessed it, Ariana and Ethan. The post was shared on actor Jeff Goldblum’s Instagram on the 10th. The two certainly do appear to be quite happy together in the image.
May 2024: Ariana supports Ethan in NYC
The ‘Dangerous Woman’ hitmaker was seen enjoying herself at the debut of a week-long residency Ethan had at Café Carlyle in New York.
“She was laughing at all of his jokes in between songs, and cheering for him after each song,” a source told People before continuing, “He’s extremely talented…The show was mostly about him and his love of music and theater, though he did steal a quick glance over to Ariana when he sang a line about being ‘Lucky to be in love.’ It was very cute.”
“He did talk about Wicked, and at one point he acted like he was going to cover ‘Defying Gravity’ and it seemed like the crowd hoped Grande would join him onstage, but then he did a last-minute switch into ‘If I Only Had a Heart’ from the original Wizard of Oz movie. Everyone was laughing,” the source added.
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June 2024: It's a date!
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater are spotted out on a date night, hitting the ice, hand-in-hand, as the two were in town to support Ariana’s home state ice hockey team competing in the Stanley Cup Finals in Florida.
“Ariana is genuinely so happy with Ethan,” an inside source told Entertainment Tonight. “She feels very comfortable with him and is in love. Their relationship is serious, and their bond is organic. Ethan treats Ariana super well and knows her so well. It’s not about external stuff with them. They just have a great time together and appreciate their time with each other.”
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September 2024: Ariana defends Ethan, shuts down rumours hw cheated on Lilly
Ariana came out to bat for her boo in a candid interview with Vanity Fair, openly sharing that “It definitely doesn’t get any easier, seeing some of the negativity that was birthed by disreputable tabloids. Of course, I went through a lot of life changes during the filming of this movie. A lot of people that were working on it did. We were away for two years. So, of course, I understand why it was a field day for the tabloids to sort of create something that paid their bills.”
Regarding the unflattering rumours that plagued Ethan’s reputation during the early days of their relationship, Ariana stated “There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him…. No one on this earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about. There is no one on this earth with a better heart, and that is something that no bullshit tabloid can rewrite in real life.”
I think it’s safe to assume that we will all be on the edge of our seats come the Wicked press tour.
Watch here for updates.
