Ariana Grande, Ethan Slater were ‘friends first’ after separating from spouses: sources

Ariana Grande and her rumored new boyfriend, “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater, bonded platonically after they each split from their respective spouses prior to starting their own love story, according to reports.

The “Dangerous Woman” singer, 30, and Broadway alum, 31, “connected as friends first because they have a lot in common and many similar interests,” a source told Entertainment Tonight.

News broke last week that the Grammy winner had separated from husband Dalton Gomez and, as insiders told TMZ, is “heading for divorce.”

The former couple started dating in 2020, got engaged later that year and tied the knot the following spring.

Slater, meanwhile, reportedly filed for divorce this week from Lilly Jay, who he married in 2018. The pair welcomed a son last August.

Sources from the new lovers’ camp insist that Grande and Slater’s relationship is entirely above board.

They “recently started dating,” a source told ET, adding that the two “didn’t start dating until both were broken up with their significant others. Ariana and Dalton remain friends.”

Jay, for her part, has a different account, with insiders telling TMZ she was “blindsided” by her estranged husband’s new romance.

Noting she’s “watching with horror” as her personal turmoil takes center stage, Jay told the outlet she wants “privacy and respect as an individual who is not in the entertainment industry and as a mom.”

“I ask to be left alone to rebuild my life and raise the beautiful boy I gave birth to last year,” continued Jay.