AFTER taking a break from music to focus on her acting career, Ariana Grande made a triumphant return to the stage this weekend.
She kicked off her first tour in seven years with a show in Oakland, California, in front of 20,000 fans. In August, she will play ten sold-out nights at London’s O2 Arena. But among the celebrations, she’s sparked concerns from those close to her, who have been blindsided by the news of her break-up with her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater.
In a cruel twist of fate, hours after she wrapped up that first show, news broke that she had split from Ethan after three years together.
After being burned multiple times while growing up in the spotlight,
I’m told Ariana keeps her circle so small that many in her wider team
had no idea she was single once more.
A source tells me: “Some artists have Zoom calls with their wider teams
almost weekly to keep everyone across what is happening in their lives, in case stories break.
“But with Ariana, it’s all on a need-to-know basis.
“She fully understands the interest in her life and openly channels
her personal experiences into her music and art, but at the same time,
she has no desire to give a running commentary about what goes on
off-stage.
“Her break-up with Ethan is a prime example of that.
“Many of her wider team thought they were still together until the
news broke.
“There has been no big ‘gotcha’ moment; things have simply
run their course.”
To make matters worse for the superstar, the toxic side of the
internet immediately began to speculate en masse about Ari’s body
image during her latest performance.
It is a topic she has repeatedly asked fans to drop and was so upset by previous speculation about weight loss that she felt forced to speak out online.
Posting on TikTok in 2023, Ariana said: “I just wanted to address your
concerns about my body and talk a little bit about what it means to be
paid such close attention to.
“The body that you’ve been comparing my current body to was the
unhealthiest version of my body.
“I was on a lot of antidepressants and drinking on them and eating
poorly, and at the lowest point of my life, when I looked the way you
consider me healthy.
“But that in fact wasn’t my healthy. You never know what someone is
going through, so be gentle with each other.”
Ari also used the lead single from her 2024 album to tell fans to back off.
On Yes, And? she sings: “My face is sitting, I don’t need no disguise.
Don’t comment on my body, do not reply. Your business is yours, and
mine is mine.”
She added in November 2024: “I love my fans. I love them always, but I
think they can sometimes hurt my feelings, and sometimes I don’t like
them — but I love them always.”
In my experience, Ariana has always been sweet and kind.
I met Ariana when she was attending the 2025 Baftas. That year, the glitzy bash was brimming with A-list stars, with Timothée Chalamet, Selena Gomez, Cynthia Erivo, Pamela Anderson, and Demi Moore all in attendance.
Despite arguably being the biggest name in the room, Ari seemed almost
overwhelmed by the hysteria around her and was surprisingly shy.
When I was making my way to an unplanned toilet break after enjoying one too many glasses of bubbles, I bumped into Ari being escorted to another part of the venue for official photos.
It was just her, her chaperone, and me in our part of the corridor. Being a fan, I shamelessly saw my chance and took it.
Keen not to make eye contact with her security, who I knew would
rebuff my request, I smiled at the superstar, quickly telling her how
I had supported her career for years and asked for a selfie.
Ariana immediately took pity on me, thanking me and saying “of course” to a quick snap.
Clearly on a tight schedule, her chaperone tried to move her on.
“No, no, it’s okay,” she sweetly told him, before we got into position
and posed for a few pictures.
After a brief chat about the evening ahead, where she was nominated for
Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Glinda in
Wicked, we went our separate ways.
Someone at her level could easily be cold and uninterested—believe me,
I’ve met enough stars like that over the years.
But despite a decade of torrid luck, Ariana clearly hasn’t let the industry jade her.
Ari has endured more in the last few years than most of us will in a lifetime.
In 2017, 22 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured when her concert at the Manchester Arena was bombed in a horrific terror attack.
The following year, her former boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, tragically died from an accidental overdose shortly after their break-up.
The singer then endured intense, highly unfair harassment from online
trolls blaming his passing on her.
While reps insist there was no overlap in either relationship, the fact that both she and Ethan were married when they first met on the set of Wicked fuelled the rumour mill once again.
As is so often the case, it was Ariana, the woman, who became the
lightning rod for abuse, while Ethan largely escaped scot-free.
The Wicked press tours were also pounced on as an opportunity for mass
speculation about her changing image.
Speaking to the Sun, fashion designer and singer Laura Marshall says:
“Often changes in body image aren’t surface-level; they are the side
effects of a deeper pain that manifests in control.
“Being questioned in this way makes it so much worse.
“Speculating doesn’t help. Judging doesn’t help. Showing kindness and compassion is the only way to handle it.”
Before her split from Ethan, Ariana had finally begun to find inner
peace and confidence once more.
Her eighth album, Petal, is set for release on July 31, penned about
finding life again after something “cold and challenging.”
Ariana explained: “Petal is something that is full of life and growing
through the cracks of something cold and hard and challenging.
“It’s definitely from a place where I have been maybe too shy or
polite to tap into before. This kind of just feels like, ‘f*** it.’
“It was about breaking up with all different kinds of negative
attachments—whether it’s my own monsters in my own head, external
voices, or things that no longer serve me.”
The lead single, Hate That I Made You Love Me, has already given Ari
her eighth UK No.1 single since 2020’s Positions.
I can’t imagine having to go on stage while navigating a break-up at
any point, let alone performing a show explicitly based on my own past
heartbreaks and traumas.
And the new show has it all.
A truly spectacular pop concert packed with hit after hit,
interspersed with thought-provoking interludes hinting at Ariana Grande’s turbulent past decade.
The production is based on her seventh album, Eternal Sunshine, which
chronicled the breakdown of her marriage to Dalton Gomez and her finding love with actor Ethan Slater.
During the opening night, she broke down in tears, seemingly overcome
with emotion at being back on stage after previously admitting she
thought she would never tour again.
I hope for Ari’s sake that spectators and fans think twice before
speculating en masse as she continues to take to stages around the
world.
After everything she’s been through, the fact that she even wants to
perform is remarkable. At the very least, she deserves kindness.