It was just five days ago that Ariana Grande showed up at Wimbledon not wearing her wedding ring resulting in speculation about her marriage. That lasted 24 hours because the next day multiple entertainment outlets confirmed that she and Dalton Gomez have been separated for a while. Ari’s been based in London for months working on the Wicked films and according to TMZ, she and Dalton broke up early in the year, then got back together briefly in May, and after two weeks ultimately decided that it was over. Those are specific details, they had to come from a pretty tight source. 

 

And then yesterday, TMZ again with the exclusive: Ari is now dating her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater. Apparently, it’s been “several months” which definitely messes with the timeline because not only was Ariana’s marriage in limbo but Ethan is also married. 

He and his wife, Lilly Jay, celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary last November. They also became parents last year. On Mother’s Day, just two months ago, he dedicated a post to Lilly and their son on Instagram. 

 

And now we’re hearing that he and Ari have been a thing for “several months”? A lot of smutty senses are probably tingling. 

Here are Ari and Ethan at a party for Michelle Yeoh back in March that Michelle posted on her IG (the last slide): 

 

Of course, nobody thought anything of it at the time but now, like I said, the timeline is funky. Speaking of timing though, there was around ten days of filming remaining on Wicked when the union voted to strike. Production has now been halted so Ari and Ethan are not currently working. An onset romance is like a love bubble, not unlike a COVID bubble, which is how Ari and Dalton fell in love. 

It was when restrictions were lifted and the world opened up and the outside infringed on the inside that Ari and Dalton’s relationship started to fall apart. She and Ethan might be in for a similar experience – when you’re no longer insulated by the intimacy of the onset film life, and the realities of the real world begin to intrude, realities like childcare and ex-wives and divorce lawyers and living in Los Angeles vs living in New York … 

The relationship could get a lot more complicated.