Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater seemingly dropped breakup hints months before their split made headlines Monday.
While attending multiple “Wicked: For Good” premieres late last year, the co-stars kept their distance from one another.
Grande, 32, and Slater, 34, did not pose together at red carpets in New York City, Sao Paulo, Paris, London and Singapore despite doing so for “Wicked: Part 1” in 2024.
When the pair did link up for shots with their castmates, they stood on opposite sides of the group.
While doing press for the musical, both Grande and the Broadway star avoided answering questions about their relationship, only adding fuel to rampant online split speculation.
Slater, notably, skirted “Today” show host Craig Melvin’s question in November 2025 about “working with [his] girlfriend every day” — instead, praising the “entire cast” of the movie as “incredible.”
He called Grande “brilliant” and Cynthia Erivo “remarkable” during the interview, adding, “I’m so proud of everyone I got to work with. We’re, like, a family.”
However, eagle-eyed fans believed the pair were still going strong after spotting Slater in Grande’s friend Elizabeth Gillies’ Instagram carousel celebrating the Grammy winner’s “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig the following month.
Additionally, Slater shared photos from his “very merry” holidays with Grande in December 2025.
They have not been photographed together since.
Slater was absent from the opening show of Grande’s “Eternal Sunshine” Tour, which kicked off over the weekend at California’s Oakland Arena.
On Monday, Page Six confirmed that the couple quietly split after three years together.
“Ariana and Ethan broke up several months ago but they’ve remained friends since then and have nothing but respect and admiration for one another,” a source told us. “This wasn’t a decision they took lightly but realized they were better off friends than in a committed relationship.
“Ariana is feeling really happy and focused on the next chapter with her ‘Eternal Sunshine’ tour and the upcoming release of her album ‘Petal,’” the insider added.
Grande and Slater met on the set of “Wicked” in 2022. At the time, they were both married to different people.
The “Side to Side” hitmaker’s separation from husband Dalton Gomez went public in July 2023.
Slater filed to divorce his high school sweetheart, Lilly Jay, that same month.
Jay, who gave birth to the former couples first child in early 2022, subsequently slammed Grande as someone who is “not a girl’s girl” in an exclusive interview with Page Six.
The psychologist claimed she and her newborn were “collateral damage” in actress’s romance with Slater.
The following year, Grande defended the relationship in her song “Yes, And?”
“Your business is yours, and mine is mine,” the “Victorious” alum sings in the track. “Why do you care so much whose d–k I ride?”
Amid headlines about the split, Slater showed subtle support for his ex by “liking” Grande’s carousel roundup from her tour.
The post All the clues Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater were headed for breakup appeared first on Page Six.
