Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have parted ways after about three years together. Although reports of their split are new and the split is described as amicable, most fans are not shocked by their decision to go their separate ways. Rumors have been circulating for months that the couple was on the run. These were the clues we picked up long before the break was confirmed.
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s divorce didn’t surprise us
While TMZ just confirmed that Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have ended their long-term romance, the signs had been there for months. There were even indications dating back to late 2025 that all was not well for the couple, who first met while working together. The first red flag came that year, when fans noticed that Ethan and Ariana were almost never seen in the same room again. While you could blame that on busy schedules for most celebrity couples, that didn’t really work for Ethan and Ariana since they actually worked together.
In September 2025, the rumor mill really got going. The two notably skipped their side-by-side performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. While they were never a couple who actively sought the spotlight together, they had also never been shy about being together at industry events. Their absence as a duo felt notable.
Theories about a private split were further bolstered at the London premiere of Bad: forever a few months after the VMAs. They both attended the same events and promoted the movie they were both starring in. Still, they kept a deliberate and quite awkward distance. In the cast photo, the former flames weren’t even standing next to each other. The tension seemed palpable, even in still photos.
Their unaffectionate attitude on the red carpet sparked many stories, and even had a few insiders talking. One source claimed that they hit a rough patch towards the end of the year, adding that they were both exhausted and the relationship was starting to falter.
The controversy that defined them, and where the exes stand now
The breakup between Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater doesn’t feel jarring, and that’s not just because of the clues leading up to the announcement. Fans have doubted their romance from the start because it was built on such shaky and controversial ground. The two met in 2022 on the London set of the former Bad film, while both were still married. Their romance went public in July 2023 and the timing raised many eyebrows. Her team insisted the two only started dating after Slater divorced his wife, but skeptics were never fully convinced, and it was far from the first time Ariana’s romantic timeline had come under scrutiny.
The figure who attracted the most sympathy was Slater’s then wife, Lilly Jay, a clinical psychologist who shares a son with him and who says she was blind. She told Page Six that her family had become “collateral damage,” a phrase that went viral, and later wrote a candid essay for The Cut about the public unraveling of her marriage.
As for where everyone stands now, the dust has largely settled on the previous splits. Big and Dalton Gomez finalized their divorce in March 2024. Gomez remained largely silent about the entire spectacle. In the meantime, Slater and Jay have focused on co-parenting their son. Whether Grande and Slater’s “friendly” ending holds up as well remains to be seen.
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