Inside Wicked Costars Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s Magical Romance

One short day, not in the Emerald City but on a Zoom call, Ariana Grande learned she’d been cast as Glinda in the film adaptation of the musical Wicked.

“I see [director] Jon M. Chu pop up, and I go, ‘OK, well, this is either it or the worst way ever to let someone down,’” the singer, who spent months preparing for the auditions, told Rotten Tomatoes. “I was shaking. My body was just immediately in fight or flight. I was out of body watching the whole moment from above. I’ve never felt that way in my life.”

And when Ariana found out Cynthia Erivo was playing fellow lead Elphaba, she had, as she put it, “another collapse” of pure joy.

The casting of the two stars—who’ve detailed the sisterhood they formed while working on the two-part movie—was announced in November 2021. Thirteen months later, news broke that Ethan Slater was joining the ensemble of The Wizard of Oz prequel, which explores Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship before they were dubbed Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Though he’d already received recognition in his own right—including a Tony nomination for his titular role in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical—the actor admitted entering the star-studded cast required a bit of courage.

“I think it was really intimidating before we started working,” Ethan, who plays Boq from Munchkinland, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age at the Australian premiere earlier this month. “I was terrified because I knew so much about every single person in the cast, and I was such a huge fan to begin with.”

But even a heartless Tinman would have been moved by the love shown his way.

“Then pretty immediately it was disarming,” Ethan continued. “I remember just every time I met somebody new, I was so warmly welcomed and I just felt like part of a group. It was really special. So that made it much less intimidating. And then occasionally I’d remember like, ‘Oh, it’s Ariana and Cynthia and they’re like the best singers of any generation in some ways.’”

While rehearsals had already begun at this point, filming didn’t start until later that year. In April 2023, Ariana confirmed on Instagram they were halfway done. 

Reflecting on how being in Oz was a “life changing” experience—one in which she was “feeling, learning and growing so much at such a disarming speed”—the Grammy winner later noted in her post that she was “transforming and healing parts of me that I never knew needed it. Or maybe did.”

But life outside her Glinda bubble was changing, too. In July 2023—soon after Wicked temporarily paused production due to the SAG-AFTRA strike—E! News confirmed Ariana and her husband Dalton Gomez had split (Divorce docs obtained by TMZ noted the couple actually separated in February 2023).

The breakup wasn’t the only twister to blow through fans’ feeds. Days later, a source close to the situation told E! News Ariana was dating Ethan, who was also going through a separation from his wife Lilly Jay.

Given the timing of the costars’ breakups (both divorces have been finalized), they didn’t have the smoothest walk down the proverbial yellow brick road. 

“It definitely doesn’t get any easier, seeing some of the negativity that was birthed by disreputable tabloids,” Ariana told Vanity Fair in an interview published in September. “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.”

“The most disappointing part,” she added, “was to see so many people believe the worst version of it.” This included rumors that Ethan cheated on Lilly for the chance to be in a famous relationship. However, Ariana insisted to the magazine, “There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him.”

Though she noted she “will never go into certain details,” she made it clear that when it comes to the Spamalot alum, “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,” Ariana continued, “and that is something that no bulls--t tabloid can rewrite in real life.”

And while there was a time when, as she once put it on Instagram, she was “feeling so deeply misunderstood by people who don’t know me, who piece whispers together and their assumptions of my life,” it appears that nobody in all of Oz the internet, no wizard rumor that there is or was is ever gonna bring her down. 

“Honestly, it’s taken me a lot of hard work to be able to last this long and to heal certain parts of my relationship to fame and to what I do because of these tabloids that have been trying to destroy me since I was 19 years old,” Ariana told Vanity Fair. “But you know what? I’m 31 years old and I’m not a perfect person, but I am definitely deeply good, and I’m proud of who I’m becoming. I will never let disreputable evil tabloids ruin my life or my perception of what is real and good.”

So Ariana and Ethan—dad to a 2-year-old son—continue to defy critics by just living their life. Over the past year, the two have enjoyed Disney dates, trips to the theater, dinner outings and hockey games. Ethan has even met Ariana’s family, including her brother Frankie Grande.

“He's very very very sweet. I just, I adore him,” the Rock of Ages star told TooFab in June. “I, honestly I've always just said this, all I want is for my sister to be happy and when she's happy I’m happy. So I'm very happy.”

Ariana and Ethan are also happy to support each other in their careers. For instance, she cheered him on during his performance in Spamalot, and he’s shown love for both her Saturday Night Live hosting gig in October and her now-Grammy nominated album eternal sunshine.

“She’s such an amazing performer, and I think everyone knows how good she is [as] a recording artist and all that—but I’m just really blown away by the songwriting,” Ethan told GQ in an October profile while discussing “Imperfect You,” a track that’s left many fans wondering if it was written for him. “I love that song.”

Of course, there’s also been the popular Wicked press tour, where Ariana and Ethan have been spotted showing subtle PDA by wrapping their arms around each other. 

But even long after the movie hits theaters Nov. 22, it’s safe to say that, despite the challenges they faced, they’ve left a handprint on each other’s hearts.

“Obviously, it was a really super big year,” Ethan added to the magazine, “and I think there was something that was really difficult about things in your private life being commented on and looked at by the public. There were a lot of big changes in private lives that were really happening, so it’s really hard to see people who don’t know anything about what’s happening commenting on it and speculating, and then getting things wrong about the people you love. So just to address that part of it, that feels really hard.”

“But, of course, it was an amazing year and a really beautiful thing,” he continued, “and I’m just really excited. I’m just really, really proud of Ari and the work she’s done on this. She’s poured herself into it. I’m really proud that I got to be there for that part of it, and I’m really excited to be there for this next step of it when the world gets to see the amazing thing that she did.”

And if you feel like you’ve been changed for good by Ethan and Ariana’s romance, keep reading to learn more about their relationship.

After a source close to the couple—who met on the set of Wicked—told E! News they had “recently” begun dating in July 2023, Grande subtly supported Slater by “liking” a photo announcing his role in Spamalot on Broadway in early September 2023. 

Later that same month, the two were seen out together for the first time at, naturally, Grande’s favorite place on Earth, Disney World. In photos shared by TMZ, the duo walked around the Florida theme park arm-in-arm. 

A source close to Grande and Slater told E! News after the excursion, “they went with a big group of friends including her mom and brother and are really happy and really good for each other.”

The costars engaged in some subtle PDA at dinner in New York City in photos obtained by TMZ. A few weeks later, Grande stepped out to support Slater during previews of Spamalot on Broadway where he played The Historian/Prince Herbert. 

Grande was gleaming as she made her way out of St. James Theater alongside friends, sporting a paper crown from the show and clutching a Playbill. 

Grande later attended the opening night of Spamalot and shared an Instagram post highlighting her evening. In the photos, Grande sported an elegant black dress and accessorized with sheer black gloves and a Spamalot cup. The last slide of her carousel included a nod to the cast—which included Slater—with a message reading, “Happy Opening of Broadway Show.”

In a rare life update on Instagram in Dec. 2023, Grande showed off some of her holiday celebrating a photo of a wall Christmas tree with a Spam can ornament. Fans quickly pointed out the connection to Slater, as Spamalot was running on Broadway at the time. 

On Dec. 23, 2023, the couple stepped out with Grande’s father Ed Butera for dinner in New York City. 

That same month, Grande teased new music and would go on to announce Eternal Sunshine in early 2024. Although no songs are explicitly about Slater on the album, fans pointed out that the album’s initials, E.S., coincidentally—or not—match the initials of Ariana’s boyfriend. 

In March 2024, Ariana and ex Dalton Gomez finalized their divorce. That summer, Grande’s brother Frankie Grande gave her new romance his stamp of approval. 

“I love him,” Frankie said of Slater in a June 2024 interview with TooFab. “He’s a very sweet guy.”

A few days after Frankie’s interview went live, Grande and Slater attended the 2024 Stanley Cup final in Florida together—marking their most public joint outing since their romance debut. 

In an interview with Vanity Fair published in Sept. 2024, Grande addressed her romance with Slater publicly for the first time—pushing back on the  speculation of the couple's romantic timeline overlapping with their previous relationships. 

“It definitely doesn’t get any easier, seeing some of the negativity that was birthed by disreputable tabloids,” she told the outlet. “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.”

Grande went on to defend Slater against any negativity thrown at him. 

“There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him,” Grande added. “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.”

That same month, Slater finalized his divorce with ex Lilly Jay—with whom he shares a young son. 

A month after he showed support for Grande’s October 2024 Saturday Night Live hosting gig, Slater addressed their relationship—and the scrutiny surrounding it—for the first time. 

“It was an amazing year and a really beautiful thing,” Slater reflected on falling in love with Grande while filming Wicked in a Oct. 2024 GQ interview. “I’m just really excited. I’m just really, really proud of Ari and the work she’s done on this. She’s poured herself into it.”

Still, Slater admitted he found it difficult to wait for people to like him again as they clung to their papers and pens. 

“I think there was something that was really difficult about things in your private life being commented on and looked at by the public,” he added. “There were a lot of big changes in private lives that were really happening, so it’s really hard to see people who don’t know anything about what’s happening commenting on it.”

But he was able to block out the noise somewhat. As he added of Grande’s song “Imperfect For You,” which is rumored to be about him, “I love that song.”

One short day in the Emerald City, or rather in the Australian city of Sydney, Grande and Slater attended a press event for Wicked and wrapped their arms around each other.

(E! and Universal Pictures are both part of the NBCUniversal family).