Ethan Slater informed his wife, Lilly Jay, that he was done with their marriage shortly before his romance with Ariana Grande went public, according to a source.
Another source close to Grande denies it, but the insider exclusively tells Us Weekly, “Ethan sat Lilly down a few days before the news broke about him and Ariana and said that he wanted a divorce. Lilly never saw it coming!”
According to a third insider, however, Slater and Grande “were separated when they started dating and the relationship is recent.”
“It’s understandable that its difficult to see an ex move on, especially in such a public way, and they are trying to be as respectful as possible,” the third source adds.
Slater, 31, and Grande, 30, connected on the set of the upcoming Wicked movie — and weren’t shy in front of the cast and crew, per the source.
“Ariana and Ethan weren’t careful,” the insider says. “They’d hold hands on set in between takes. They were sloppy and not hiding it.”
Slater and Jay, who welcomed a son in 2022, celebrated 10 years as a couple last November, one month before he left to film Wicked in London. While he has since gone private on Instagram, his Mother’s Day tribute to his high school sweetheart raised eyebrows amid headlines about him and Grande.
“Happy first Mother’s Day to the most loving caring and wonderful mom/person in the world. — from me and this little guy,” Slater gushed on the app in May.
Us confirmed earlier this month that things turned romantic between Slater and Grande amid the “Thank U, Next” singer’s own separation from now-estranged husband Dalton Gomez.
“Ariana and Ethan are dating; however things are fairly new. Ariana and Dalton split in January, and Ethan is separated from his wife,” a second source told Us. “Ariana and Ethan have only recently begun seeing each other but they have a lot of fun together and are enjoying each other’s company.”
Gomez, for his part, is “devastated” by the impending divorce, another insider explained.
“Dalton is really hoping to make things work with Ariana,” a fifth source said. “Despite the rocky patches they’ve been through, he isn’t ready to give up on their marriage. He saw himself spending the rest of his life with Ariana and will do anything to get past this.”
According to a sixth insider, Grande and Gomez, who wed in 2021, had “been having some issues for months” leading up to their breakup.
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“They were having issues before she left for Wicked filming [in London] that they couldn’t resolve, and the distance did not help,” the source said. “They haven’t been speaking and are separated, and a divorce is likely.”
Grande and Slater — and their respective spouses — have yet to publicly comment on the drama.
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