Are Ariana Grande and Ricky Alvarez Dating? Explaining the Rumors

The pop sensation has had fans in a frenzy following recent comments hinting she may have reunited with a former partner.

Ariana Grande | Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Allow us to set the scene for you. It’s November 2018, and Ariana Grande just released the hit song “Thank U, Next.” As the tune begins, the pop sensation reminisces on loves past, singing, “Thought I’d end up with Sean, but it wasn’t a match. Wrote some songs about Ricky, now I listen and laugh.”

Now, nearly seven years later, fans are speculating that the singer and her former flame, Ricky Alvarez, might be back together. Why, you ask? Here’s everything we know about the rumors.

Are Ariana Grande and Ricky Alvarez Dating?

As fans are already aware, People reported early last month that Grande and her boyfriend of three years, Wicked costar Ethan Slater, had broken up. An exclusive source revealed to the magazine that they’d actually “been quietly broken up for several months,” though they remained on good terms. This surprising announcement came just days after Grande stepped back onstage for the first time in years, traveling the U.S. for her Eternal Sunshine Tour in June, marking her first tour since the Sweetener World Tour back in 2019.

Following this revelation, the romance rumors between Grande and Alvarez first sparked after the two were photographed together while shopping for groceries on the Fourth of July, as reported by TMZ. Still, what truly got the gossip going were moments during her recent shows. There, eagle-eared fans noted Grande had been making changes to some of her lyrics, with the aforementioned “Thank U, Next,” standing out.

Reports from multiple outlets noted that, at one stop, she altered the line about Alvarez to “wrote some songs about Ricky, and they still kinda slap” before changing it again just two days later to “I know he still got my back.” However, things came to a head for fans this week when she tweaked the end of the lyric one more time, singing, “we always find our way back,” which many took as a signal of reunion between the couple.

This potential rekindling was further reported by Page Six, who spoke to exclusive sources claiming the pair are indeed dating again. “Ariana has rekindled things with Ricky, but she isn’t rushing back into the relationship,” one source exclusively told the outlet. “She has a lot on her plate at the moment and is still incredibly busy with her tour schedule, so they’re taking things one step at a time.”

Grande and Alvarez—who was a backup dancer for the star during her Honeymoon Tour in 2015—originally dated from roughly May 2015 to June 2016, per ELLE. At the time of this article’s publication, neither Grande nor Alvarez has officially commented on the rumors or confirmed their relationship, but we’ll continue to update as more information becomes available!

---