How Ethan Slater found out about Ariana's Ricky reunion
How Ethan Slater found out that ex Ariana Grande had rekindled her romance with Ricky Alvarez was through mutual friends—not from Grande herself, reports say. An insider told the Daily Mail that “Ariana hasn’t told Ethan specifically,” while sources insist she “never crossed the line” with Alvarez while dating Slater.
Key Takeaways
- Mutual friends—not Grande—reportedly informed Slater that she is dating Alvarez again.
- Insiders say Grande stayed loosely in touch with Alvarez but did not cross a line during the Slater relationship.
- Grande and Alvarez, who dated in 2015–2016, have been spotted together in Texas and Florida and are said to be “fully back” in each other’s lives.
- Page Six confirmed on June 6 that Grande and Slater quietly ended their three-year relationship and have remained friends.
How did Ethan Slater learn about the dating news?
According to Page Six, citing the Daily Mail, Slater heard about the reunion secondhand.
“Ariana hasn’t told Ethan specifically, but mutual friends have told him that she is now dating Ricky again,” an insider said Friday.
The report lands amid ongoing celebrity breaking news coverage of Grande’s post-split chapter.
Are Ariana Grande and Ricky Alvarez back together?
A third source told the Daily Mail that Grande and Alvarez “are fully back in each other’s lives and are together.”
What drew her back, the source said, was “the comfort and familiarity they share,” plus trust from knowing each other well—and she “doesn’t feel like she has to prove herself.”
Another insider stressed they are not “simply picking up where they left off.” They are “revisiting the relationship with a different perspective,” talking about past mistakes, and approaching things “with more maturity,” the source claimed—adding that approach “isn’t usually Ariana’s thing.”
Alvarez, a photographer and Grande’s former backup dancer, is “very happy being back in her life and is looking for this second chance to be what he wanted the first time around,” a source said.
When did the Grande-Alvarez rumors start?
Grande, 33, and Alvarez, 35, first sparked reconciliation buzz after they were seen with friends at an Austin, Texas, restaurant in late June for her birthday.
They were later photographed on a Whole Foods run over the Fourth of July weekend in Boca Raton, Florida—Grande’s hometown.
More fuel came July 13 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, when she reportedly changed a “Thank U, Next” lyric about Alvarez from “Now I listen and laugh” to “We always find our way back.”
Those headlines arrived just weeks after news of her split from Slater broke. On June 6, Page Six confirmed the “Wicked” co-stars had quietly parted after three years. A source said they “broke up several months ago” but remain friends with “respect and admiration,” and “realized they were better off friends than in a committed relationship.”
Page Six has reached out to reps for Grande and Slater for comment. Grande was described as focused on her “Eternal Sunshine” tour and upcoming album “Petal.”