The rumor mill never sleeps, and lately, it’s been spinning around Ariana Grande’s love life. After she seemingly got back with Ricky Alvarez—the guy she dated nearly a decade ago—the natural question is: how did the people close to her react?
Especially Ethan Slater.
Slater was married to Grande for nearly a year before things ended in late 2023. So when whispers started circulating about her new romance with Alvarez, people expected a formal statement or a dramatic confirmation from Slater himself. That didn’t happen.
Instead, it turns out the news broke through a less-than-dignified route. Mutual friends.
How the News Traveled
According to sources cited by the Daily Mail, Grande didn’t reach out to her former husband personally to break the news. That silence has left a lot of people confused, considering she maintained a loose connection with Slater post-divorce.
“Ariana hasn’t told Ethan specifically,” a source revealed. “Mutual friends have told him that she is dating Ricky again.”
So Slater wasn’t told by his ex-wife. He heard it through the grapevine from their shared circle of acquaintances. It’s awkward. It’s passive. And frankly, it speaks to how tangled their social circles still are.
Why the Loose Contact?
If they were once inseparable on red carpets and during a turbulent public breakup, why stay in the same ecosystem at all?
Insiders claim Grande wanted to keep things friendly. The reasoning? Mutual friends. It’s not unheard of for co-parents or close exes to keep the peace for shared social groups, but keeping the door ajar to a romantic partner’s new girlfriend feels like walking a tightrope without a net.
“It was important to her to still remain in touch. The shared network meant staying friendly wasn’t just polite, it was necessary.”
This kind of proximity raises the obvious question: How do you truly move on when your ex is having dinner with the same people your current flame is dating?
The History We’re Ignoring
Let’s step back to the original romance, because Alvarez and Grande’s first act wasn’t exactly subtle. They met in 2015 when Alvarez was working as one of Grande’s backup dancers.
It was a whirlwind that lasted just over a year, ending in 2016 before most fans even realized how deep it went. Grande usually kept her past romances on a need-to-know basis. Alvarez was an outlier. A favorite.
And now? Rumors are suggesting they are trying this again. Speculation intensified when Grande began dropping subtle hints during her 2025-2026 tour. If you watched closely, you could see the nods, the lingering glances, and yes, the reappearance
