Ariana Grande secretly ended once-scandalous romance with Ethan Slater months ago: report

Perhaps conveniently, news broke Monday that Ariana Grande had ended her romance with her former “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater, two days after she opened her massive Eternal Sunshine Tour at the Oakland Arena.

But as People reported, the relationship actually “quietly” ended “months ago,” which suggests that the pop star’s team presumably tried to keep the breakup secret so that it wouldn’t risk overshadowing Saturday night’s launch of her three-month tour and the promotion of her next album, “Petal”

In any case, the breakup news hasn’t struck too many Grande fans as all that shocking, given that she doesn’t have a record of staying in relationships — or in her one marriage — for “longer than three years” and given that her romance with Slater had scandalous beginnings.

Grande, 32, and Slater, 34,were first romantically linked in July 2023, while they were working together in London on the two-part film adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical, “Wicked.” The relationship news was a “shock” too many because Grande was still officially married to luxury real estate agent Dalton Gomez. But even more controversial, Slater had seemed to be happily married to therapist Lilly Jay — and the father of an 11-month-old baby boy.

At the time, reps for Grande and Slater tried to spin the narrative by insisting that Grande had separated from Gomez months earlier, while telling People and Page Six that Grande and Slater only “recently began dating” — after he had separated from his wife.

Jay wasn’t so sanguine about this development, as gossip and entertainment sites reported. The day after Slater filed for divorce, Jay spoke to Page Six about the globally famous, multi-hyphenate celebrity and suggested that her husband had blindsided her with their romance. She famously told Page Six Grande is “not a girl’s girl” and said, “My family is just collateral damage.” Other reports said that Jay was “devastated that her family’s been torn apart” and feels that the actor has “abandoned his family.”

But shortly thereafter, it appeared that people from Slater’s team were trying to push the news that Jay regretted making those comments about Grande, while insisting that Slater “desperately” wanted to be involved in co-parenting their son.

In subsequent months, Grande and Slater were spotted out together, including on a date at Disneyland in September 2023, as People reported. Meanwhile, Slater and Jay finalized their divorce in September 2024, after which Jay penned a viral essay for The Cut, in which she addressed the controversy without attacking her ex-husband or Grande directly. In the essay, titled, “How Does My Divorce Make You Feel?” Jay reflected on the challenges of navigating a highly public divorce, while continuing her career, raising her son as a single mother and grieving the loss of the quiet life she once enjoyed, as The Tab reported.

Meanwhile, Grande and Slater had made their relationship “Instagram official” in November 2024 when Grande posted a photo with him for the first time in a carousel of pictures taken while they and other castmates attended the Australian premiere of the first installment of “Wicked,” People reported. The first part of “Wicked” was a commercial and critical hit and earned Grande an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. Over the next year, Grande and Slater continued to make promotional appearances for the release of “Wicked: For Good,” the second part of the “Wicked” film adaptation.

Prior to Grande’s relationship with Slater, she was married to Gomez from 2021 to 2023. Before that, she had a high-profile, whirlwind romance with former “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson in 2018, during which they were briefly engaged. In May of 2018, she also ended a two-year relationship with rapper Mac Miller, who died the following September of an accidental drug overdose. She and Miller had previously collaborated on her 2013 single “The Way” and his 2016 single “My Favorite Part.”

Grande also once dated rapper Big Sean, backup dancer Ricky Alvarez, Australian YouTuber Jai Brooks and boy band member, Than Sykes, according to People.

As for the end of her relationship with Slater, a source told People that the split is “amicable.”

“They gave lots of time and careful consideration and decided to go their separate ways,” the source told People “They are still friends and very supportive of one another. They have been quietly broken up for several months.”

The insider added that Grande is “doing great,” and has been focused on her Eternal Sunshine Tour and the upcoming release of her new album.

On Reddit and other online forums, fans speculated that Grande and Slater had probably gone their separate ways more than a year ago, but publicly stayed together “for P.R.” reasons. In November, Slater said in an interview that Grande’s performance in the “Wicked” sequel was “out of this world,” People reported. More recently, in March, Grande offered a message of support on Instagram Stories for the final performance of Slater’s off-Broadway play “Marcel on the Train,” which he co-wrote and starred in.

There’s now debate on Reddit about whether any of her songs on her “Eternal Sunshine” or “Petal” are about their relationship, but many also have expressed the idea that the relationship didn’t start in the most favorable of circumstances.

“All of that mess and drama and the breakup of a family with a newborn for a relationship that has probably been over long before this announcement,” one person said on r/popculturechat sub-Reddit, referring to the news of their breakup. Over on People magazine, another person said, “I need every story about this breakup to mention how he left his wife, who he’d been with for years, and new baby for this relationship. And I don’t think she’s had any relationship last over 3 years.”