Ariana Grande is dating her “Wicked” costar Ethan Slater, a source close to the situation previously confirmed to TODAY.com. Recently, the couple appeared together for the first time on her Instagram page while promoting the upcoming movie.
On April 11, the singer shared an Instagram post featuring her fellow “Wicked” cast members. The post prominently featured Grande alongside actor Cynthia Erivo, who stars in the film, but one photo in the post showed Grande and Slater leaning in close.
In the post, Grande and Slater can be seen pressed together and alongside their “Wicked” castmates while Grande makes a kiss face.
The couple’s “Wicked” co-star, Jeff Goldblum, shared a different perspective of the photo, which shows Grande and Slater’s faces pressed together as the cast crowds around a mirror.
“Over the rainbow to be reunited with this magical family!” Goldblum’s post reads.
“You are singular and incredible,” Slater replied to the post.
Grande also commented on the post, writing, “My heart !!!!!!!!!”
While Grande is well known internationally, Slater may be a new name to many. Here’s what to know about about Ethan Slater.
Who is Ethan Slater?
Slater is an actor and writer who is perhaps most well known for his time starring as SpongeBob in “The SpongeBob Musical” on Broadway, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination. The musical ran on Broadway from 2017 to 2018. Slater was with the production from its early stages of development, according to his website.
“I learned more from this project than anything else in my life,” he wrote on his site. “It helped me cultivate my deep love for physical comedy, my appreciation for approaching any project with passion and creativity and introduced me to life long friends and collaborators.”
Slater appeared on TODAY in 2018 to perform “Hero Is My Middle Name” from the musical.
“It felt like really surreal,” he told Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Carson Daly and Al Roker at the time about the musical’s Tony nominations. “We’re a really close group and it feels really good to see everybody nominated and respected together.”
The musical is now available to stream on Paramount+.
Slater’s website also details a number of projects he has written, including a musical titled “Edge of the World” that he worked on with New York-based actor Nick Blaemire.
Most recently, he was cast as Boq in the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “Wicked,” which has a scheduled release date of November 2024.
Who is Ethan Slater’s wife?
Ethan Slater married Lilly Jay in 2018. A source previously confirmed to TODAY.com that the two are separated.
Does Ethan Slater have children?
Slater and Jay welcomed a son in 2022.
How did Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater meet?
While it is not publicly known when and where Grande and Slater met, the two have been working together on the movie production of “Wicked.” Grande is playing one of the main characters, Glinda, while Slater, as previously mentioned, is playing the role of Boq. Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh are just a few of the additional names of those who have been cast in the film.
When have Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater been seen together?
In November 2023, Grande stepped out on the town to show her support to Slater.
Grande, who split from her real estate husband, Dalton Gomez, after two years of marriage this summer, attended the Broadway premiere of Slater’s latest show, “Spamalot,” on Nov. 16, 2023.
While Grande didn’t walk the red carpet with her new beau, she did attend the show. She later shared photos of the evening — including her Loewe little black dress and long mesh black gloves — with a simple caption of two heart emoji.
She paired her look with bold red lip and pearl drop earrings.
Upon her departure, paparazzi captured photos of Grande stopping to give autographs to fans.