Meet Ethan Slater, Ariana Grande's 'wicked' Costar And Boyfriend Who's Known For Playing Spongebob On Broadway

Ariana Grande, left, at the "Wicked" NY premiere and Ethan Slater, right, at the "Wicked" LA premiere in 2024.

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP; Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

• Ariana Grande is dating her "Wicked" costar Ethan Slater.
• Slater is a Broadway actor who rose to fame starring as Spongebob in "The Spongebob Musical."
• Here's what to know about Slater, from his notable roles to his relationship with ex-wife Lilly Jay. 

Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater's relationship is facing renewed interest amid the release of "Wicked" and a personal essay published by Lilly Jay, Slater's ex-wife.

In July 2023, multiple outlets including People magazine and TMZ reported that Grande, 31, and her "Wicked" costar Slater, 32, were dating. The reports came days after news broke of Grande's separation from her husband, Dalton Gomez. 

Grande and Slater presumably met through their roles in the two-part film adaptation of the "Wicked" musical. Grande portrays Glinda, the popular girl at Shiz University, and Slater plays Boq, a classmate from Munchinland who has an unrequited crush on her but becomes the love interest of Elphaba's younger sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode).

Here's everything to know about Slater.  

Slater is an actor who rose to fame playing Spongebob on Broadway

Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Nickelodeon

For his star turn as the plucky yellow sponge in the 2017 musical adaptation of "Spongebob Squarepants," Slater received several accolades, including a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award win in 2018. He also starred in the Classic Stage Company's production of "Assassins," which ran until January 2021, and has had roles on shows including "Law & Order: SVU" and "Fosse/Verdon." 

Slater more recently starred in the Broadway revival of "Spamalot," which closed in April after a 24-week run. 

Shortly after news broke of his rumored relationship with Grande, Slater's Instagram page was made private. When viewed by Business Insider before Slater made the account private, the page mostly featured clips from his past and coming projects, as well as a blurry selfie with his then-wife, Jay. 

Slater shares a son with his ex-wife, Lilly Jay

Scott A. Garfitt/Invision/AP

Slater and Jay, a clinical psychologist in perinatal mental health and child development, met in high school and married in 2018. They welcomed their first child together, a son, in August 2022. 

In People's July 2023 report about Grande and Slater's relationship, a source said that Slater and Jay had separated, though they didn't give an exact timeframe for the separation. TMZ reported that Slater filed for divorce from Jay on July 26, 2023.

Jay later addressed Slater's romance with Grande in an interview with Page Six, calling the singer "not a girl's girl" and saying her family was "just collateral damage" in the controversy. 

Grande first sparked her own divorce rumors after she was spotted at a Wimbledon match without her wedding ring or engagement ring on July 16, 2023.

A day after the singer was seen without her rings at Wimbledon, TMZ reported that Grande and Gomez had been separated for several months and were "heading for divorce." The couple had been together since 2020 and married in 2021.

Grande and Gomez simultaneously filed for divorce in September 2023. Their separation date was listed in court documents as February 20, 2023.

Jay recently discussed her and Slater's divorce in an essay for The Cut, published on Thursday. In her essay, Jay avoided directly addressing Slater and Grande's relationship and instead focused on how her highly publicized divorce affected her. She also said that she and Slater continue to co-parent their child. 

"While our partnership has changed, our parenthood has not," Jay wrote. "Both of us fiercely love our son 100% of the time, regardless of how our parenting time is divided. As for me, days with my son are sunny. Days when I can't escape the promotion of a movie associated with the saddest days of my life are darker."

Libby Torres contributed to an earlier version of this story.