Ariana Grande is dancing through life with Ethan Slater.
The “Positions” singer—whose relationship with the SpongeBob SquarePants actor was made public in June 2023—celebrated a sweet moment by taking her grandmother Marjorie “Nonna” Grande to the movies to see her performance in Wicked. But Ari and Nonna weren’t the only ones in attendance: She revealed Ethan also joined for the family outing in Boca Raton, Fla.
“Flew to Boca for a day to watch with Nonna,” Ariana wrote on a Nov. 25 Instagram Story photo of her sitting beside her grandma and brother Frankie Grande. “At the movie theater I grew up going to every weekend, Cinemark 20 in Boca.”
In another photo, Ariana and Nonna held hands while watching the stage-to-screen adaptation, with the 31-year-old—who stars in the film as Glinda opposite Ethan’s Boq—making note of who took the tender pics, writing alongside a smiley face, “Photo by @ethanslater.”
And while Ari’s grandma was happy to see her granddaughter in the movie, Nonna also made note of another favorite part.
“Thrilled to report that when the sugar glider had her drum solo,” Ariana wrote on the snap and tagged the film’s director Jon M. Chu, “Nonna exclaimed loudly, ‘oh i LOVE that.’”
The Grande family outing with Ethan—who shares a 2-year-old son with ex-wife Lilly Jay—is just the latest sign of support from Ariana’s boyfriend. Earlier this month, he praised the “One Last Time” singer and her performance in Wicked.
“She’s so funny,” Ethan said on the Nov. 4 episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show. “She’s a comedy genius. I mean, she’s amazing in this film.”
“Everyone’s amazing in this film,” he continued. “And Ari’s hilarious. I can’t wait for people to see the takes that didn’t make it in.”
But that’s not the only time Ethan gushed about his girlfriend fulfilling her lifelong dream of being Glinda.
“I’m just really, really proud of Ari and the work she’s done on this,” he told GQ in October. “She’s poured herself into it. I’m really excited to be here for this next step of when the world gets to see the amazing thing that she did.”
Read on to look back at Ariana and Ethan’s love story.
Just A Little Bit Of Her Heart: September 2023
After a source close to the couple—who met on the set of Wicked—told E! News they had “recently” begun dating in July 2023, Grande subtly supported Slater by “liking” a photo announcing his role in Spamalot on Broadway in early September 2023.
Later that same month, the two were seen out together for the first time at, naturally, Grande’s favorite place on Earth, Disney World. In photos shared by TMZ, the duo walked around the Florida theme park arm-in-arm.
A source close to Grande and Slater told E! News after the excursion, “they went with a big group of friends including her mom and brother and are really happy and really good for each other.”
It’s Supernatural: October 2023
The costars engaged in some subtle PDA at dinner in New York City in photos obtained by TMZ. A few weeks later, Grande stepped out to support Slater during previews of Spamalot on Broadway where he played The Historian/Prince Herbert.
Grande was gleaming as she made her way out of St. James Theater alongside friends, sporting a paper crown from the show and clutching a Playbill.
She Loves to Seem Him From Her POV: November 2023
Grande later attended the opening night of Spamalot and shared an Instagram post highlighting her evening. In the photos, Grande sported an elegant black dress and accessorized with sheer black gloves and a Spamalot cup. The last slide of her carousel included a nod to the cast—which included Slater—with a message reading, “Happy Opening of Broadway Show.”
Doing Winter Things: December 2023-January 2024
In a rare life update on Instagram in Dec. 2023, Grande showed off some of her holiday celebrating a photo of a wall Christmas tree with a Spam can ornament. Fans quickly pointed out the connection to Slater, as Spamalot was running on Broadway at the time.
On Dec. 23, 2023, the couple stepped out with Grande’s father Ed Butera for dinner in New York City.
That same month, Grande teased new music and would go on to announce Eternal Sunshine in early 2024. Although no songs are explicitly about Slater on the album, fans pointed out that the album’s initials, E.S., coincidentally—or not—match the initials of Ariana’s boyfriend.
Love Isn’t Completely Off The Table: Summer 2024
In March 2024, Ariana and ex Dalton Gomez finalized their divorce. That summer, Grande’s brother Frankie Grande gave her new romance his stamp of approval.
“I love him,” Frankie said of Slater in a June 2024 interview with TooFab. “He’s a very sweet guy.”
A few days after Frankie’s interview went live, Grande and Slater attended the 2024 Stanley Cup final in Florida together—marking their most public joint outing since their romance debut.
This Is the True Story: September 2024
In an interview with Vanity Fair published in Sept. 2024, Grande addressed her romance with Slater publicly for the first time—pushing back on the speculation of the couple's romantic timeline overlapping with their previous relationships.
“It definitely doesn’t get any easier, seeing some of the negativity that was birthed by disreputable tabloids,” she told the outlet. “Of course, I went through a lot of life changes during the filming of this movie. A lot of people that were working on it did.”
Grande went on to defend Slater against any negativity thrown at him.
“There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him,” Grande added. “No one on this earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about. There is no one on this earth with a better heart, and that is something that no bullshit tabloid can rewrite in real life.”
That same month, Slater finalized his divorce with ex Lilly Jay—with whom he shares a young son.
Imperfect For Each Other: November 2024
A month after he showed support for Grande’s October 2024 Saturday Night Live hosting gig, Slater addressed their relationship—and the scrutiny surrounding it—for the first time.
“It was an amazing year and a really beautiful thing,” Slater reflected on falling in love with Grande while filming Wicked in a Oct. 2024 GQ interview. “I’m just really excited. I’m just really, really proud of Ari and the work she’s done on this. She’s poured herself into it.”
Still, Slater admitted he found it difficult to wait for people to like him again as they clung to their papers and pens.
“I think there was something that was really difficult about things in your private life being commented on and looked at by the public,” he added. “There were a lot of big changes in private lives that were really happening, so it’s really hard to see people who don’t know anything about what’s happening commenting on it.”
But he was able to block out the noise somewhat. As he added of Grande’s song “Imperfect For You,” which is rumored to be about him, “I love that song.”
Magical Moments: November 2024
One short day in the Emerald City, or rather in the Australian city of Sydney, Grande and Slater attended a press event for Wicked and wrapped their arms around each other.