Ethan Slater and Ariana Grande’s Relationship Is Not What’s ‘Portrayed’

Simply days after Ariana Grande’s separation from her husband of two years, Dalton Gomez, was extensively reported, information broke that Grande discovered love once more…on the set of Depraved.

Grande and her co-star Ethan Slater, who can be separated from his spouse, began relationship not too long ago, as Individuals, Leisure Tonight, and TMZ reported on July 20, 2023. Slater and Grande’s commonalities transcend their work in Depraved, although: Each are Broadway alumni (Grande for her work in 13: The Musical, Slater for his within the Spongebob musical).

Here is what to learn about Slater and his historical past with Grande.

Slater is a 31-year-old actor finest identified for enjoying Spongebob on Broadway, for which he earned a Tony nomination.

Slater is a Gemini and celebrated his thirty first birthday on June 2; he grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended Vassar School. His most high-profile position thus far was starring as Spongebob in Broadway’s SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical. It was a venture he was concerned in for years, beginning when he was simply 19.

“Engaged on SpongeBob modified the way in which that I method every part as a result of I began engaged on it after I was 19, and it was seven years of growth—from beginning growth till closing on Broadway,” he informed Pop-Culturalist.com in August 2021. So it was like my full schooling, which is superior. We approached it from this angle, which got here from [director] Tina [Landau], that this isn’t a present that’s speaking all the way down to youngsters. It is a present that’s humorous; it’s humorous, it’s visually stimulating, it’s bodily humor. Youngsters prefer it as a result of it faucets into this optimism and coronary heart; and adults prefer it as a result of it faucets into issues they keep in mind from their childhood. Nevertheless it’s not a present that’s solely designed for teenagers. It was meant to make us chortle whereas we had been making it.”

Slater is enjoying Boq in Depraved.

Boq notably has a giant crush on Grande’s character Glinda in Depraved. Slater and Grande have been capturing the movie adaptation within the U.Ok. since December. Slater’s casting in Depraved was introduced in December 2022.

Slater not too long ago separated from his associate of 10 years and spouse of 4 years, Lilly Jay. They’d a son collectively final yr.

Each Slater and Grande are newly single after being married. Individuals reported that Slater and his spouse Lilly Jay had been separated after information of his relationship Grande broke on July 20. Jay and Slater began relationship in 2012 and received married in November 2018. They welcomed their first youngster, a son, in August 2022.

Slater celebrated Jay this Mom’s Day on his Instagram account. He wrote, “Completely happy first Mom’s Day to essentially the most loving caring and fantastic mother/individual on the earth. – from me and this little man.” Grande had preferred the submit.

He additionally posted a tribute to her in November 2022, writing, “My finest buddy. 4 years married, 10 years collectively. And that is simply the most effective (and most *weird*) yr but.” Grande preferred that submit too.

On Saturday, July 22, a supply who is aware of Lilly informed ET that the brand new mom is “devastated” and that “this isn’t the long run she had in thoughts.”

They added, “She’s doing her finest to get again on her ft. She’s extremely good and pushed…she is really the most effective mom.”

He made his Instagram non-public shortly after information broke of his and Grande’s romance.

Slater had a public Instagram account when experiences initially broke of his and Grande’s relationship. However shortly after the information tales unfold, Slater went non-public on his Instagram. He had already restricted feedback on some posts beforehand.

Slater and Grande began relationship after they separated from their spouses.

A supply informed Individuals, “Ariana and Dalton separated in January. She and Ethan not too long ago started relationship, and he’s separated from his spouse.”

Us Weekly acquired comparable intel from its supply: “Ariana and Ethan are relationship; nonetheless issues are pretty new. Ariana and Dalton break up in January, and Ethan is separated from his spouse. Ariana and Ethan have solely not too long ago begun seeing one another however they’ve a whole lot of enjoyable collectively and are having fun with one another’s firm.”

Leisure Tonight’s supply additionally burdened that that is very current: “Ariana and Ethan not too long ago began relationship. They’ve loads in frequent and have a whole lot of enjoyable,” the supply mentioned. “They did not begin relationship till each had been damaged up with their important others. Ariana and Dalton stay buddies.”

TMZ, in the meantime, reported that Slater and Grande had been relationship “a number of months in the past throughout manufacturing” of Depraved, per its a number of sources. The insiders burdened that Slater and Grande didn’t begin relationship till after they had been separated from their spouses. They had been photographed sitting subsequent to one another whereas celebrating Depraved co-star Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar win in March.

On July 28, a supply emphasised to ET that Slater and Grande began as buddies, saying, “Ariana and Dalton each realized they had been very completely different folks and quietly separated earlier this yr. Ariana and Ethan linked as buddies first as a result of they’ve loads in frequent and plenty of comparable pursuits.”

In September, scrutiny of the state of affairs from followers led to extra gossip about their relationship timeline, which was refuted by a supply.

“Whereas this whole state of affairs has been blown out of proportion, it’s a lot completely different than what has been portrayed in public,” mentioned a buddy near the couple. “They’re simply making an attempt to navigate their new relationship in non-public.”

One other supply added, “They’re doing their finest to steadiness the truth that they’re within the public eye with the will to be respectful to all events concerned.”

Slater misplaced his mom as a baby and spoke about how that tragedy formed him.

In an August 2021 interview with Pop-Culturalist.com, Slater mentioned how he co-wrote the musical Fringe of the World primarily based on that loss. “One of many massive issues is the mining [of] my private expertise for writing,” he mentioned. “Once I was 7 years previous, my mother died, and in order that’s been a very massive, formative factor in my life. She had left this large imprint on me, though I had so few reminiscences. And that’s what occurs to this character, Ben. He grows up not figuring out his mother, being raised by a single dad, and but the impression she has on his life and his life trajectory is immeasurable. So these are the 2 inspirational components that got here collectively.”

Senior Information and Technique Editor

Alyssa Bailey is the senior information and technique editor at ELLE.com, the place she oversees protection of celebrities and royals (notably Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She beforehand held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves working round Central Park, making folks take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York Metropolis.