ARIANA Grande is no stranger to exciting the public with her relationships and creative projects, and the pop star has done both with her new boyfriend.
Ethan Slater and the 31-year-old music superstar started their romance on a global hit movie set, but here’s everything you need to know about Grande’s beau.
Ethan Slater got his blockbuster break when he was cast to star in the two-part Wicked film.
The 32-year-old, born in Washington D.C., had an acting career before his role in the hotly-rated Jon M. Chu film.
Slater first starred in a 2015 stage show called Diner where he played a character called Modell.
His stage presence also promoted him to the bright lights of Broadway with three roles on some of America’s most famous stages.
Slater appeared in Spamalot, Camelot, and the Broadway rendition of the Spongebob SquarePants musical.
His role as the yellow TV character landed him in the critics’ good books as he was nominated for a Tony Award and won a Drama Desk Award in 2018 for his rendition.
Slater was shot into global stardom overnight when his relationship with fellow co-star Ariana Grande became public.
The Broadway actor might have expected to land a career boost through his major role as Boq on Wicked but the theater star also bagged a new relationship.
Grand and Ethan are thought to have met in December 2022, after the 32-year-old joined the film’s cast.
The pair have been public about their relationship and were even candidly snapped together at the film’s premieres.
Both of the actors were in separate marriages when they met.
Slater filed for divorce from his wife of five years, Lilly Jay, in 2023.
The Broadway actor reportedly did this before he started dating the pop superstar, and finalized the separation in September 2024.
Jay, a clinical psychologist, maintained her silence after the divorce until she dropped an emotional essay she penned about the split.
She opened up about the grief she experienced when she saw her husband promoting Wicked across the globe with Grande, who plays the good witch Glinda.
Jay, who has a child with Slater, broke her silence on the controversial relationship saying she was sometimes unable to “escape” the press around the film.
She said: “As for me, days with my son are sunny. Days when I can’t escape the promotion of a movie associated with the saddest days of my life are darker.”
She added: “No-one gets married thinking they’ll get divorced, in the same way we don’t board a plane expecting to crash.”
Grande and Slater were reportedly “relieved” that Jay’s emotional letter was not too heated, according to the MailOnline.
A source supposedly said: “They’re relieved that Lilly didn’t throw them under the bus.
“Ethan and Ariana are fully aware of what happened, as is everyone who was around at the time.”
The source reportedly added: “[Lilly] made it clear that she moved to London with him and the timeline from that point forward speaks for itself.”
The Break Free popstar married luxury real estate agent Dalton Gomez in May 2021.
Grande filed for divorce just two years later in September 2023 and listed the separation date as February that year.
The short-lived marriage officially ended in March 2024, with Gomez walking away with a huge $1.25 million payout from the pop star.
