How producers kept Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s romance a secret

Since it was announced that Ariana Grande was dating her Evil For co-star Ethan Slater, the romance – and ongoing questions about the timeline of their relationship – have cast a shadow over the highly anticipated film.

Given its ambitious $145 million budget and November 22 release date after years of delays, Universal Pictures executives reportedly began to fear that the couple’s contentious relationship could jeopardize the musical’s success.

According to insiders, studio executives advised Grande and Slater to “go into hiding” for six months in hopes that the controversy would cool down before the film’s debut.

“When the relationship first came to light, there was a lot of concern in the studio about its implications Evilsaid an insider DailyMail.com.

“Ariana and Ethan were ordered to disappear from the public eye for six months and they complied with that request.”

The couple first met in December 2022 on the UK set of Wicked, where Grande stars as Glinda, the good witch, alongside Slater, who plays Boq, a lovelorn dwarf.

At that time she was still married to Dalton Gomez. She later filed for divorce in September 2023 and named February 20, 2023 as the official separation date.

Just three days after announcing their split, Grande confirmed her budding romance with Slater, which quickly garnered public attention.

Slater, who married his high school sweetheart Lilly Jay in 2018 and welcomed their first child in 2022, was also in a marriage when he entered high school Evil pour.

In July 2023, he filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences and requested joint custody of their son.

Jay later made headlines herself by publicly criticizing Grande, claiming the singer viewed her family as “collateral damage” and accusing her of being “not a girl’s girl.”