Within days of news breaking that Ariana Grande was divorcing real estate agent Dalton Gomez, sources are now telling People magazine that she’s already got a new boyfriend, living up to the lyrics of her most famous and most referenced song, “Thank U, Next.”
The 30-year-old pop star, who is known for cycling through romances that don’t last, is dating Broadway alum Ethan Slater, her costar in the upcoming film adaptation of “Wicked” who has separated from his wife of four years, sources have told People.
Sources indicated to People that this new romance began after Grande and Gomez separated in January. Grande and Gomez’s relationship and 20-month marriage developed when the two began spending an intense amount of time together in COVID-19 lockdown. The People sources said that Grande and Slater, 31, only started dating “recently.”
E! News reported that Slater, a Tony nominee for “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical,” shares a young son with his newly estranged wife, singer Lilly Jay. He celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary just last November by posting an Instagram photo that called Jay “my best friend.” As recently as May, he honored Jay with a Mother’s Day post, calling her “the most loving caring and wonderful mom/person in the world.”
With this new development in Grande’s love life, it’s no doubt time to point out how much it mirrors the lyrics of “Thank U, Next.” Sure, references to the hit 2019 song have become cliché, but it’s hard to avoid the similarities.
“I ain’t worried ’bout nothin’,” Grande sings. “Plus, I met someone else/We’re havin’ better discussions/I know they say I move on too fast/But this one gon’ last.”
“And I’m so good with that (so good with that),” Grande continues. “I’m so grateful for my ex/Thank you, next (next)/Thank you, next (next)
Thank you, next (next).”
Grande has a number of exes to be grateful to. Grande was previously engaged to “Saturday Night Live” comedian Pete Davidson from June 2018 to October 2018 after a whirlwind romance. She also famously dated Big Sean from 2014 to 2015 and rapper Mac Miller from 2016 to May 2018; Miller died of a drug overdose in September 2018.
Apparently, Gomez was supposed to be the love that was “gon’ last.” Grande and Gomez first met in January 2020, when she hired the young, handsome, Los Angeles-based real estate mover and shaker to help her find a house. They initially spent time together at her home in New York when the pandemic descended on the United States in March 2020. That’s when “she realized he is very special,” a source told People. When Gomez returned to Los Angeles she followed. They married in May 2021 at her home in Montecito.
As lockdown restrictions were lifted, Grande and Gomez reportedly got back to their old lives, with Grande performing again, releasing music and making movies. Meanwhile, Gomez found himself taken aback by Grande’s celebrity, TMZ reported. He wasn’t accustomed to her schedule, the paparazzi and the work opportunities that took her out of L.A.
Over the past year, Grande has been in the U.K., working on the “Wicked” movie adaptation with Slater, E! News reported. However, Grande, Slater and the rest of the cast and crew have paused filming, after the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, announced that it was joining the writers’ union and going on strike.
Maybe the strike will give Grande and Slater some down time to spend quality time together, just as the pandemic lockdowns allowed the romance between Grande and Gomez to flourish.
𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘀, 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 & 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘆: www.mercurynews.com
𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗠𝗖𝗔,
𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗮𝘁 dmca@enspirers.com
