Ariana Grande Album Inspiration Linked To 'Rough Patch' With Ethan Slater After A Major Hurdle
Ariana Grande may have brought some unwanted attention to her romance with Ethan Slater while announcing her eighth studio album, Petal.
On April 28, the singer announced that Petal will be released on July 31, describing the album as, “Something that is full of life and growing through the cracks of something cold and hard and challenging.” As is typical in the world of celebrities, any vague mention of a rough patch will undoubtedly cause fans to look at a star’s relationship, so here’s the latest on Grande and Slater.
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Are Ariana Grande & Ethan Slater Still Together?
Grande confirmed that she and Slater are still together in a March 22 post on her Instagram Stories when she shared a photo Slater posted from his Broadway run in a play he co-wrote titled Marcel on the Train. “congratulations on a beautiful run of this very beautiful show,” Grande wrote on her Instagram Stories on March 22, along with a butterfly emoji and two outlines of hearts. “so very proud.”
That update came after an insider alleged that the pair had a rocky end to 2025. “Ariana and Ethan hit a rough patch towards the end of last year,” a source close to Grande’s family told the Daily Mail on March 8. “They never broke up, but it was questionable at a point if they were going to continue moving forward.”
“They’ve really spent time working on their relationship and are in a much better place. It’s been hard for them with the way their relationship began and they’ve had a lot to work through, but they seem to really, truly love each other,” the insider added.
Towards the end of 2025, conflicting reports emerged about the status of Grande and Slater’s relationship. In mid-October, the Daily Mail noted that Grande and Slater’s relationship had cooled since their hot-and-heavy alleged affair began. A source shared that they “have been on and off for most of this year” and that they were “keeping it together for now — at least until after Wicked: For Good opens.”
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Meanwhile, TMZ spoke with sources who are close to the couple in a Nov 2025 article, which claimed that Grande and her boyfriend were “holding hands and being affectionate backstage” at the London premiere of Wicked: For Good and alleged that “everything’s great” between the two of them.
People also kept in line with the narrative that the duo is busy, but making it work anyway. “They both have a lot going on, but their relationship is the real deal,” an insider told the outlet in Nov 2025. “They’re incredibly supportive of each other’s careers and so excited for everyone to see their new film.”
Grande and Slater met in December 2022 at the start of the Wicked and Wicked: For Good production. By July 2023, TMZ was reporting that they were in a relationship together. At the time, Grande was married to Dalton Gomez, and Slater was married to his high school sweetheart, Dr. Lilly Jay. They share one son. The couple has kept their relationship relatively private, aside from joint appearances to promote Wicked and Wicked: For Good.
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Before you go, click here to see celebrity couples who started their relationships as affairs.