Was Ariana Grande and Ricky Alvarez’s ‘Chaotic’ Whole Foods Grocery Run a Setup?
Following Ariana Grande‘s recent split from her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, she and backup dancer Ricky Alvarez, whom the singer dated from 2015 to 2016, have sparked reconciliation rumors after being spotted grabbing lunch in Texas and running holiday errands together in Florida. But not everyone is buying that Grande and Alvarez have rekindled their romance, with some even speculating that it could be a PR stunt.
Now, an expert is weighing in and sharing exactly what they noticed about Grande and Alvarez’s actions during their recent trip to Whole Foods together.
Inbaal Honigman is a body language expert. She has appeared in the media for more than two decades, offering her expertise and perspectives on current events and pop culture figures for several outlets, including Big Brother’s Little Brother, Elle Magazine, and talkSPORT radio, to name a few.
Speaking on behalf of Casino.org, Honigman told Showbiz Cheat Sheet, “These photos of Ariana and Ricky’s grocery run are not romantic at all, but they reveal a much more complex dynamic between the former partners. The signs that the two are not a couple are many and varied: They’re not facing each other in any of the photos, their poses are not mirroring each other, and there’s no eye contact.
“When a couple is in love, or when they’re in a passionate relationship, they’ll be naturally drawn towards each other … If they communicate as a couple, they would laugh at the same time, frown at the same time, and show some sort of affinity towards the other.”
Honigman continued, “Here, we have chaos. The messy, misaligned, chaotic body language screams that this is a setup … both Ariana and Ricky move in such different ways to one another, as to suggest that there is no emotional connection between them at all. When examining the body language used by Grande and Alvarez during this Whole Foods trip, their feet are all over the place, their glances rarely meet, and each of them wears an entirely different facial expression. They’re not in a relationship.”
The expert broke down what she says is really going on by examining their demeanors, noting, “Ricky is confused. His facial expression befuddled, he flashes his teeth, as his dropped jaw and parted lips spell uncertainty. His furrowed brow further determines that he’s not sure what they’re even doing there. Why are they at the shops instead of ordering food? Ricky is unsure … This show of productivity would appear to suggest that Ricky himself doesn’t know why he’s there with Ariana, and what purpose this shopping trip serves.”
As for Ariana, Honigman pointed out that she “constantly moves, seen moving shopping bags from cart to car, she is wearing an eerie, fixed expression, like a haunted doll. Ariana is smiling, but the smile is excessive for the occasion. There’s no call for such joy while nipping to the shops. Every muscle in her face is taut, lips stretched, eyebrows raised, teeth gleaming. In all of the photos from that scene, her smile never drops or changes. It remains fixed to her face in an unnatural way.
“This smile is frozen, which makes it appear inauthentic, and in addition, she’s not smiling at any specific person, which adds to the eerie nature of the smile. She’s not looking at Ricky, so who is this smile for? Who is Ariana wearing this expression for? It would appear that Ariana’s faux chipper smile, paired with her leadership stance, is constructed especially for the cameras.”
Honigman concluded that “The whole trip is fake, and is meant to create a specific impression. Grande is the one in the lead, stepping ahead of Alvarez at times, giving instructions and leading with action, which lets us know that the shopping trip was her idea. Her feet move non-stop. She never pauses to discuss the grocery-loading strategies with Alvarez.
“Ariana Grande has orchestrated a trip to the shops that shows how happy and domestic she is, recruiting Ricky Alvarez as her helper, in order to send out a message. She’s letting someone know that she’s moved on, even though this is not the truth. Ricky is not there as a partner, but more as an employee, following instructions and falling in line.”
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges that conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
