Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have once again demonstrated that their relationship is very much alive, with the Broadway star showing his support for the singer during her recent hosting gig on Saturday Night Live.
Backstage Support at SNL
Over the weekend, Slater, 33, was spotted in Grande's backstage green room at the iconic NBC show. The sighting came via an Instagram carousel shared by Grande's longtime friend and former Victorious co-star, Elizabeth Gillies. The post featured a cosy snapshot of Gillies and Slater on a couch alongside fellow performer Aaron Simon Gross.
While the couple did not appear together in any photos from the evening, Slater's presence was a clear signal of their ongoing connection. In a gushing caption, Gillies praised Grande's "stellar performance," writing, "Nobody does it like you, dingus. What a treat it is to watch you use your many talents and gifts and use them so effortlessly well."
Quashing Breakup Speculation
This public display of support follows a week where Grande actively silenced rumours of a split. The 7 Rings hitmaker shared a video of Slater reflecting on his character's arc in the upcoming film Wicked: For Good, where the pair first met while filming overseas.
Speculation about the status of their romance had been swirling for months, with a source telling Daily Mail in October that the pair had been "on and off for most of this year." Their last major public appearance together before this was at the New York City premiere of Wicked in November, which also served to quiet the rumour mill at the time.
A Controversial Beginning
The couple's relationship first made headlines in 2023 under a cloud of controversy. News of their romance broke shortly after Grande split from her then-husband Dalton Gomez, 30, while Slater was still married to Lilly Jay, with whom he shares a young son.
Jay, a psychologist, later fuelled the narrative in a personal essay for New York Magazine's The Cut, describing the fallout as a "darkness" she struggled to escape. Grande faced significant public scrutiny and was labelled a "homewrecker" during this period.
Despite the rocky start, the pair have since appeared united at numerous high-profile events in support of Wicked, including the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, and the Oscars. Their latest joint sighting backstage at Saturday Night Live suggests they are continuing to navigate their relationship in the public eye.
