Days after news broke that Ariana Grande would split from ex-husband Dalton Gomez in 2023, news broke that she was dating Ethan Slater.
Grande and the actor were together for three years before Page Six confirmed their split in June 2026.
“Ariana and Ethan broke up a few months ago but have remained friends ever since and have nothing but respect and admiration for each other,” a source told Us at the time. “This was not a decision they made lightly, but they realized they were better off as friends than in a committed relationship.”
The source added, “Ariana is feeling really happy and focused on her next chapter: the Eternal Sunshine tour and the release of her album Petal.”
Grande and Slater met while co-starring in Wicked, where they played Glinda the Good Witch and Me, respectively.
Read more about the Tony nominee’s background, ex-wife and young son below.
his Broadway career
After off-Broadway appearances in films such as Baghdadi, Slater made his Broadway debut as the lead role in the 2017-2018 production of SpongeBob SquarePants.
In addition to winning a Drama Desk Award for the role, Slater was nominated for a Tony Award.
He returned to acting off-Broadway, appearing in Camelot, Assassins, Goodnight, Oscar, and later joined Grande and the rest of the Wicked cast in the adaptation.
his academic background
Ms. Slater, who grew up in Maryland with two sisters and two stepbrothers, attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School and Georgetown Day School.
He attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
The actor, born in 1992, was a sophomore in college when he landed the role of the same name in SpongeBob SquarePants.
his love life
Slater married his high school sweetheart Lily Jay in 2018, six years after they started dating.
He penned a touching tribute to his wife on Instagram in November 2022, guising, “My best friend. Married for 4 years, together for 10. And this year is definitely the best (and *weirdest*) year ever.”
It’s unclear exactly when Slater and the psychologist called it quits, but Jay lashed out at Grande in 2023, exclusively telling Page Six that the “winning” alum is “not a girl’s girl.”
She penned a viral essay about her “sudden” divorce for the 2024 cut.
Jay wrote at the time that she was “overwhelmed by the magic and ordinariness of new motherhood, unable to comprehend the growing distance between us,” and that her “darkest” days after the separation were when she “couldn’t escape promoting a movie related to the saddest days of[her]life.”
his baby
Before separating, Slater and Jay welcomed a son.
The new father revealed the news in a January 2023 Instagram post, sharing a photo of himself in a “Wicked Cute” costume. “Very vague post, but we’re having a baby now,” he captioned the upload.
Four months later, he confirmed the child’s gender when he called the child his “little boy” while wishing “amazing” Jay a happy Mother’s Day.
In a 2024 essay, Jay offered rare insight into the dynamics of co-parenting, writing, “While our partnership has changed, our parenting has not. We both fiercely love our son, always 100 percent, regardless of how our parenting time is divided.”
farewell between him and grande
Before Page Six confirmed Grande and Slater’s breakup, the two were seen distancing themselves from each other and at odds during the Wicked: For Good press tour in late 2025.
Additionally, Slater sidestepped questions on the “Today” show specifically about working with his girlfriend, instead praising the entire cast.
But astute fans speculated that the duo was still going strong after spotting Slater on Elizabeth Gillies’ Instagram carousel in support of Grande’s “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig in December 2025.
Later that month, Slater included the “Side to Side” singer in a roundup of a “super fun” holiday season.
After Grande and Slater’s breakup was confirmed, social media users noticed that the latter was subtly sending love to her ex with Instagram likes.
