Ariana Grande, who was a coach on season 21 of “The Voice,” has split from her “Wicked” costar Ethan Slater after 3 years of dating, People reported on June 8, 2026.
The outlet says they were told by a source, “It’s amicable, they gave lots of time and careful consideration and decided to go their separate ways. They are still friends and very supportive of one another. They have been quietly broken up for several months.”
The report goes on to quote the insider as saying that Ariana, 32, is “doing great” and focusing on her Eternal Sunshine tour. The tour began on Saturday, June 6 in Oakland, California, and marked the superstar’s first time touring in 7 years.
The tour is not the only thing keeping Ariana busy. She also has a new album called “Petal” coming out on July 31.
Ariana Previously Seemed to Address Ethan Slater Relationship in a 2024 Interview
A couple of years ago, Ariana sat down for an interview with radio personality Zach Sang and said agreed with him that “people have crafted their own narratives” about her. She said, “The thing is, we know this about the tabloids and about the media and about…like, am I crazy? Don’t we know this?”
She went on, “It’s like we selectively remember that this is what the tabloids do to people, especially women, based on whether or not we like the person.”
Although she declined to “go into any specifics,” the former Nickelodeon star seemed to hint at the criticism and Slater, who was married with a newborn when they started working together, had received by saying, “There’s like an insatiable frustration, inexplicable hellish feeling with watching people misunderstand the people you love.”
Who Was Ethan Slater Married To?
GettyEthan, who plays Boq, a Munchkin character who eventually becomes the Tin Man, married Lilly Jay, a clinical psychologist, in 2018.
The former couple their first child, a boy, in August 2022 before Ethan filed for divorce almost a year later in July 2023. The divorce was finalized in September 2024. The first installment of “Wicked” hit theaters two months later.
Ariana has navigated a divorce of her own, splitting from luxury real estate agent Dalton Gomez shortly after Valentine’s Day 2023. They finalized their divorce in March 2024.
Teen Vogue and other outlets reported the terms included an NDA that prohibited Gomez from taking part in any “any book, article, interview, program or other production” concerning his relationship with Ariana. He received a $1.25 million payout from the singer and $25,000 towards his attorney’s fees, as well half the proceeds from the sale of their home.
Fans Speculate on the Meaning Behind Ariana Grande’s Gripping Tour Visualizer
What is the meaning behind Ariana’s tour visuals? The show includes powerful imagery played on the screen which fans are interpreting in discussion chats.
One widely discussed scene seems to portray the “Dangeous Woman” crooner walking through various events from her life holding the hand of her childhood self.
In ariheads, the dedicated fan forum dedicated to Ariana on Reddit, a dedicated fan by the screenname murajai0798 took the time to write out a detailed theory. In it, they suggested the performance is “a full narrative about memory, identity, trauma, public scrutiny, healing, and the choice to remember rather than erase.”
They then addressed the scene where Ariana is brushing her teeth in a bathroom mirror which cracks and unleashes a torrential flood of water. They surmised the water represents “memories and emotions breaking through from within.”
The fans seem to agree the machine Ariana is hooked up to in some scenes is the memory erasure tool from the video for her early 2024 song “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).”
But unlike in the music video, when Ariana chooses to use the machine to erase her memories, fans think the tour imagery shows the singer rejecting the technology, as shown in a final scene where she looks into a room and the chair is empty.
The overarching theme seems to be that Ariana is now embracing and living with her memories, both good and bad, rather than blocking them out.
