We Saw Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s Split Coming
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have called it quits after about three years together. While reports of their breakup are new and describe the split as amicable, most fans aren’t shocked by their decision to go their separate ways. There have been rumors swirling for months that the couple was on the outs. These were the clues we picked up on long before the breakup was confirmed.
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s split didn’t surprise us
While TMZ just confirmed that Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have ended their longstanding romance, the signs were there for months. In fact, there were clues stretching back to late 2025 that things were not going well for the couple, who first met while working together. The first red flag came that year, when fans noticed Ethan and Ariana were almost never spotted in the same room anymore. While you could chalk that up to 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 kicked into high gear. The two notably skipped appearing side by side at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. While they were never a pair who actively sought the spotlight together, they had also never been shy about being around each other at industry events. Their absence as a duo felt noteworthy.
Theories about a private split were further shored up during the London premiere of Wicked: For Good a couple of months after the VMAs. They both attended the same events, promoting the film they both starred in. Still, they kept a deliberate and pretty uncomfortable distance. The former flames didn’t even stand next to each other in the cast photo. The tension seemed palpable, even in still-frame photos.
Their less-than-affectionate demeanor on the red carpet gave rise to plenty of stories, and a few insiders even talked. One source claimed they had hit a rough patch toward the end of the year, adding that they were both exhausted and the relationship had begun to fray.
The controversy that defined them, and where the exes stand now
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s split doesn’t feel shocking, and it’s not only because of the clues leading up to the announcement. Fans have doubted their romance from the start, since it was built on such shaky and controversial ground. The two met in 2022 on the London set of the first Wicked film, while both were still married. Their romance went public in July 2023, and the timing raised plenty of eyebrows. Her team insisted the two didn’t begin dating until after Slater had separated from his wife, but skeptics were never fully convinced, and it was far from the first time Ariana’s romantic timeline drew scrutiny.
The figure who drew the most sympathy was Slater’s then-wife, Lilly Jay, a clinical psychologist who shares a young son with him and who has said she was blindsided. She told Page Six her family had become “collateral damage,” a line 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 mostly settled on the earlier splits. Grande and Dalton Gomez finalized their divorce in March 2024. Gomez has remained mostly quiet about the entire spectacle. Slater and Jay, meanwhile, have focused on co-parenting their son. Whether Grande and Slater’s own “friendly” ending holds up as cleanly remains to be seen.
