Ariana Grande’s Boyfriend History: From Big Sean to Ex-Husband Dalton Gomez, to Ethan Slater & More
Ariana Grande and her ex-husband Dalton Gomez have reportedly settled their divorce. Find out everything about Ariana’s romantic history.
Ariana Grande‘s love life has been in the spotlight since she was just a teenager. Most recently, she and her now ex-husband Dalton Gomez divorced in 2023. After two years of marriage, it was reported that the couple had split up in July 2023. Shortly after their split, it was reported that the “Positions” singer was in a relationship with her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, who filed for divorce from his ex-wife Lilly Jay in July. As their romance has progressed, Ariana has seemingly addressed any critics of the romance with a rare public statement and her new song “Yes And?”
Ariana’s lawyer Laura Wasser reportedly filed paperwork first, and Dalton’s people filed shortly after. Ariana’s paperwork cited “irreconcilable differences” as their reasoning. A source close to the situation told TMZ that the singer would write her ex a check. On October 6, they settled the matter with the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Before getting married, Ariana famously dated stars like Big Sean and Mac Miller, and was briefly engaged to Pete Davidson in 2018. Here’s a full history of her past relationships:
Jai Brooks
Ariana began dating Australian YouTube star Jai Brooks of The Janoskians in August 2012. They split in October 2013, after Jai took to Twitter to accuse the former Nickelodeon star of cheating on him with Nathan Sykes from British boy band The Wanted. “Yes I was cheated on. Yes it does suck,” he wrote in a lengthy rant. “Yes I was left for another man.” The “7 Rings” singer refuted his claims, accusing him of threatening her if she chose to break up with him. “Woke up this morning in complete and utter shock …I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised. You said to me if I didn’t come back to you, you’d make me look bad to the entire world,” she wrote. “I’m no longer afraid of you or your lies anymore.” The couple rekindled their romance in May 2014 but ended things for good in August of that year.
Big Sean
One of Ari’s first serious relationships was with rapper Big Sean. She confirmed their romance in October 2014, calling him “one of the most amazing men in the whole world.” Before Ariana, Sean was engaged to Glee star Naya Rivera, who alleged in her 2016 memoir that she found Ari at the rapper’s home while she was still with him. Ariana and Big Sean called it quits eight months later in April 2015. Despite their relatively short lived romance, he got a shout out on her November 2018 single “Thank U, Next” when she sang: “Thought I’d end up with Sean / But he wasn’t a match.”
Ricky Alvarez
Ari was first linked to her backup dancer Ricky Alvarez in the summer of 2015. They dated for about one year before calling it quits in July 2016. The pair have remained on good terms in the years since, and have even been spotted hanging out together. After Ariana sang, “Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh” on her single “Thank U, Next” she jokingly wrote on social media, “IM SORRY U GOT THE WORST LINE … IT WAS MEANT V LOVINGLY.”
Mac Miller
Ariana and the late rapper Mac Miller first met when they collaborated on her single “The Way”, and went on to date from 2016 to 2018. After calling it quits, Ariana took to Instagram, offering fans some context for the break up. “I respect and adore him endlessly and am grateful to have him in my life in any form, at all times regardless of how our relationship changes or what the universe holds for each of us!” The rapper also spoke out in July 2018, saying, “I was in love with somebody. We were together for two years. We worked through good times, bad times, stress and everything else. And then it came to an end and we both moved on,” he told Zane Lowe on Beats 1.
Tragically, Mac Miller passed away in September 2018 as a result of mixed drug toxicity, and Ariana shared a moving tribute to him after his passing. “I adored you from the day i met you when i was nineteen and i always will.” She also referenced him on her track “Thank U, Next,” singing, “Wish I could say, ‘Thank You’ to Malcom / ‘Cause he was an angel.”
Pete Davidson
Who could forget Ariana’s short-lived engagement to Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson? The couple was only dating for a few weeks in the summer of 2018 when she revealed Pete had popped the question. While things seemed blissful for a few months, they called off their engagement in October of 2018. Pete later said he knew their relationship was over after her ex Mac Miller’s sudden passing. “I pretty much knew it was around over after that. That was really horrible, and I can’t imagine what that sh*t is like. All I do know is that she really loved the sh*t out of him, and she wasn’t putting on a show or anything. That was f**ked up. Prayers to his family and all of his friends,” he said in February 2020.
Even though their relationship may not have worked out the way they once thought, it’s clear that there’s no bad blood between Pete and Ariana, when the “God is a Woman” singer gifted Pete’s then-girlfriend Kim Kardashian a package of her R.E.M. beauty collection in March 2022.
Dalton Gomez
Dalton Gomez officially put a ring on it in 2020 and walked down the aisle with Ariana in 2021. The couple are believed to have started dating in early 2020. Fans first noticed there was a mystery man in the background of some of her Instagram stories while she was holed up at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. She later confirmed their relationship status by featuring him in her “Stuck with U” music video.
The couple then went from strength to strength, going on romantic getaways and packing on the PDA in sweet social media snaps. After dating for less than one year, the “7 Rings” hitmaker took to Instagram on December 20, 2020 to reveal the happy news of their engagement. “forever n then some,” she captioned a post featuring a photo of her gorgeous engagement ring. The unique piece of jewelry was encrusted with a large diamond alongside a small pearl, which she showed off in a stunning mirror selfie.
On May 17, 2021, Ariana and Dalton made headlines for getting secretly married in a reportedly “informal” wedding the weekend before. The former pair had a private and intimate wedding in Montecito, CA, and had less than 20 guests in attendance. The couple seemed incredibly happy together after their wedding. They memorably had amazing Halloween costumes in October 2021. In December 2022, Ariana moved to the U.K. to film the two-part Wicked movies and Dalton visited her on the set several times. Everything seemed great with the couple…until it wasn’t.
On July 16, 2023, Ariana and Dalton sparked breakup rumors when Ariana didn’t wear her wedding ring to Wimbledon. The following day, news broke that the pair were getting divorced after two years of marriage. TMZ reported that the couple separated in January 2023 and tried to reconcile but “failed” at doing so. Ariana and Dalton were reportedly having issues before the “Into You” singer moved to England to shoot Wicked, TMZ claimed. The pair each filed for divorce in September 2023. The documents claimed their separation date was February 20.
On October 6, Page Six reported they’d settled the matter, with Ariana paying out a lump sum and providing security for the real estate agent. “Ariana and Dalton really wanted to take care of each through all of this and make it as easy on one another as possible — which is why they really took their time with everything,” an insider told the outlet.
“They have a strong mutual respect for each other.”
Ethan Slater
Ariana is now linked to fellow Broadway star Ethan Slater following her split from Dalton, PEOPLE reported on July 20, 2023. “Ariana and Dalton separated in January. She and Ethan recently began dating, and he is separated from his wife,” a source told the publication. Ariana and Ethan are co-stars in the Wicked movie. It was reported that the co-stars bonded over their respective splits.
Ethan is famous for starring in the SpongeBob SquarePants Broadway musical, which earned him a Tony Award nomination in 2018. Ethan was married to his high school sweetheart Lilly Jay and they welcomed their first child together, a son, in 2022. It’s unclear when Ethan and Lilly, who had been together since 2012, split — but on July 26, 2023, Ethan filed documents to end his marriage to her in New York City, according to a report by TMZ.
While reflecting on the new year, Ariana appeared to reference her latest romance in a rare comment on her Instagram Story. “I have never felt more pride or joy or love while simultaneously feeling so deeply misunderstood by people who don’t know me,” she wrote.
The “7 Rings” singer has faced some criticism for the new relationship, but she brushed off any haters in her track “Yes And?” from her long-awaited album Eternal Sunshine. “No I won’t hide underneath your own projections or change my most / authentic life. … Your business is yours and mine is mine / Why do you care so much whose d**k I ride,” she sings in the second verse.