Last week, the world learned of Ariana Grande's separation from her (now ex) husband, Dalton Gomez. Several days later, it was reported that Ariana had started dating her Wicked co-star, Ethan Slater, who is technically also married. Early reports said Ethan and his wife had separated.
“Ariana and Dalton separated in January," a source told PEOPLE. "She and Ethan recently began dating, and he is separated from his wife."
Now, sources are saying that Ethan's wife was shocked to learn of her husband's relationship with Ariana.
Ariana and Dalton were married for two years and got married five months after announcing that they were engaged. A source told Entertainment Tonight that they "ultimately were just not a good fit."
"Ariana and Dalton’s friends have always been concerned by their whirlwind romance and felt their relationship would ultimately be short-lived," another source told the outlet. "Their relationship has been rocky at different points, and they've had trouble making time for each other with scheduling issues."
A source confirmed that Ariana and her Wicked co-star are indeed dating, but both of them ended their prior relationships before they started dating each other, according to Entertainment Tonight.
"Ariana and Ethan recently started dating. They have a lot in common and have a lot of fun," a source told the outlet. "They didn't start dating until both were broken up with their significant others. Ariana and Dalton remain friends."
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However, sources have reported that Slater's wife, Lilly Jay, was actually "devastated."
A source told Entertainment Tonight that "this is not the future she had in mind."
"She's doing her best to get back on her feet. She's incredibly smart and driven," the source said.
Sources also told Page Six that Lilly was "completely blindsided" by the news. “It’s horrible. They were high school sweethearts. They have a baby! She’s a wreck," a source told Page Six.
Ethan has been married to Lilly Jay since 2018 but they've been together for 10 years, according to Cosmopolitan. His Instagram is now set to private, but he allegedly took to social media to write about his wife on his anniversary last November.
"My best friend. 4 years married, 10 years together. And this is easily the best and most (bizarre) year yet," the actor allegedly wrote.
A source told Page Six that Ariana seems to be the reason Ethan and Lilly "suddenly (broke) up now when nothing appeared wrong between them."
He also allegedly posted about his wife just two months ago on Mother's Day because he and his wife also have a child together.
"Happy first Mother's Day to the most loving caring and wonderful mom/person in the world, from me and this little guy," he wrote, according to E! News.
Fans also noticed that Ariana had 'liked' these posts, which many found to be pretty suspicious.
Ariana and Ethan have been filming the film adaption of Wicked together in the U.K. since December. TMZ alleges that sources said the couple actually began dating "several months ago during production," but still they had ended their relationships with their respective partners before they began dating.
Ariana and Ethan have both been in Broadway productions. Ariana was in 13: The Musical in 2008, and Ethan is best known for starring in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.
Ariana and Dalton allegedly were having issues “that they couldn’t resolve” for months, and when Ariana went to film Wicked in London in December of last year, it certainly didn't help. Sources told Page Six that Lilly and the baby visited Ethan on the set of the film, and Ariana allegedly spent time with the couple.
Though Ariana and Datlon also announced the end to their marriage, sources told Page Six that they are “incredibly amicable."
“She just wants to move forward and has no hard feelings about their breakup," a source told US Weekly.
Ariana is playing Glinda in Wicked, while Ethan is playing Boq. Ethan's casting as Boq was announced in December.
