From rappers to Broadway’s Spongebob: A rundown of Ariana Grande’s messy dating history

Ariana Grande has been in the public eye for almost two decades thanks to Disney Channel’s Victorious, which means basically all of her relationships have been everyone else’s business. She’s dated a very wild array of people, from rappers to Broadway singers to, well, Pete Davidson. Here’s a full rundown of Ariana Grande’s messy dating history.

Graham Phillips, 2008 – 2011

The Good Wife and Riverdale actor Graham Phillips met Ariana while working on Broadway in 13: The Musical, and they dated for over three years.

While the reason for their split isn’t known, they’ve stayed friends over the years, and have been photographed at various 13 reunion dinners since 2011. However, they spent an evening together in 2016 and there didn’t seem to be any bad blood between them. A source told E! in 2016, after they were photographed spending the evening together, that “they had a wonderful time. Both of them, and their guests, were an absolute delight and stayed late into the night. They treated everyone amazing!“

Jai Brooks, 2012 – 2013

The Janoskians star Jai Brooks and Ariana were first seen looking cosy together during summer 2012, but seemed to split up a year later.

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In a huge Twitter post, Jai claimed Ariana of cheated on him with Nathan Sykes, her next boyfriend. He wrote on Twit Longer “yes I was cheated on. Yes, it does suck. Yes, I was left for another man. Nathan if you read this, when you hold her hand you better hold it tight because you are holding my world. I do wish you two happiness and a good life and hope everything works out.”

Ariana replied on Twitter, denying all the allegations he’d accused her of. She said, “woke up this morning in complete and utter shock… I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised. You said to me if I didn’t come back to you, you’d make me look bad to the entire world… I’m no longer afraid of you or your lies anymore. I’m going to be the lady my mother raised and carry myself with class and dignity… But I will never be any man’s press opportunity.”

She added: “Girls… RESPECT YOURSELVES. Keep your head held high and speak only kind words. Know your truth… no one can ever take that away from you. It’s always ok to defend yourself. My fans know what kind of person I am. Never let any man discredit you or the values you were raised with. I’m finally happy. Words can’t hurt me anymore.”

Nathan Sykes, 2013

Ariana dated Nathan from The Wanted 11 years ago, after meeting on a red carpet. She told Entertainment Wise at the time that she “saw him in March on a red carpet, and we locked eyes with each other all night. I thought, he was cute as hell. Nothing happened obviously and then, the duet came about.”

They then collaborated on the song Almost is Never Enough for the Mortal Instruments: City of Bonessountrack, with Ariana saying, “It was a really fun day – he was very sweet and cute. We started talking and then it just went from there. We didn’t really start talking until we met again at Justin Bieber’s tour in August.”

The pair broke up due to distance a few months later (a source told Us Weekly they “hardly ever saw each other” and “just weren’t into it anymore”), but later collaborated in 2016 for Nathan’s debut solo album.

Big Sean, 2014

Ariana confirmed her romance with Big Sean to The Telegraph in October 2014. He was previously engaged to Naya Rivera.

“He is one of the most amazing men in the whole world, and that includes my grandfather and my brother,” she said of him at the time. “I think the world of him, and he’s an amazing person. That’s kind of all there is to it.”

They broke up after eight months in April 2015, and their agents released a joint statement saying, “they both deeply care for each other and remain close friends. We kindly ask that the media respect their wish for privacy regarding this personal matter at this time.”

Ariana later sung about their breakup in Thank U, Next with the lyrics “thought I’d end up with Sean / But he wasn’t a match.”

Ricky Alvarez, 2015 – 2016

Ricky and Ariana first met each other when he was one of her backing dancers, and the two even shared a kiss on stage during a 2015 performance.

When they split in 2016, an insider from E! News said re: their split “she broke up with him. He didn’t cheat or anything, they just found it difficult to make it work. They are still friends, though.”

Ricky also has the worst line in Thank U, Next: “Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh.” The songs about him are allegedly True Love and Forever Boy.

After its release, Ricky posted a video of himself listening to the song, and Ariana jokingly responded, “IM SORRY U GOT THE WORST LINE … IT WAS MEANT V LOVINGLY.”

Mac Miller, 2016 – 2018

In probably the saddest part of her dating history, Ariana dated Mac Miller from 2016-2018.

Ariana Grande and Mac Miller met in 2013 while collaborating on her song The Way from her album Yours Truly, and they collaborated again in 2016 on Mac’s song, My Favourite Part. They dated for two years until Ariana confirmed their split on Instagram in 2018.

She posted a photo of the two cuddling, and wrote in the caption, “I respect and adore him endlessly and am grateful to have him in my life in any form, at all times regardless of how our relationship changes or what the universe holds for each of us!”

Mac then spoke about their breakup the following July, in an interview with Zane Lowe. “I was in love with somebody,” he said. “We were together for two years. We worked through good times, bad times, stress and everything else. And then it came to an end and we both moved on.”

Mac tragically passed away in September 2018, due to mixed drug toxicity. Ariana shared an emotional tribute on Instagram to him, saying “I adored you from the day I met you when I was nineteen and I always will. I can’t believe you aren’t here anymore. I really can’t wrap my head around it. We talked about this. So many times. I’m so mad, I’m so sad I don’t know what to do. you were my dearest friend. For so long. above anything else. I’m so sorry I couldn’t fix or take your pain away. I really wanted to. The kindest, sweetest soul with demons he never deserved. I hope you’re okay now. Rest.”

He was the last tribute in the Thank U Next lineup, with the lyrics, “Wish I could say thank you to Malcom / Cause he was an angel.”

Pete Davidson, 2018

Pete and Ariana met in May 2018 after Ariana appeared on SNL, where Pete was a former cast member. He was the one to take their relationship Instagram official when he posted a pic of them wearing Harry Potter outfits, with the caption, “The chamber of secrets has been opened.”

Just one month later in June, Pete proposed to Ariana, later telling Jimmy Fallon of their relationship, “I feel like I won a contest, so sick. It’s f**king lit.”

The happy couple spent a summer together being engaged, but then by October 2018, the couple had broken up.

Pete opened up about the split on SNL, telling viewers, “I know some of you are curious about the breakup, but the truth is, it’s nobody’s business, and sometimes things just don’t work out, and that’s OK. She’s a wonderful, strong person, and I genuinely wish her all the happiness in the world.”

In July 2019, Ariana also spoke about their relationship to Vogue, explaining her mindset at the time. “It was an amazing distraction,” she said. “It was frivolous and fun and insane and highly unrealistic, and I loved him, and I didn’t know him. I’m like an infant when it comes to real life and this old soul, been-around-the-block-a-million-times artist. I still don’t trust myself with the life stuff.”

Mikey Foster, 2019

Ariana and Social House’s Mikey Foster were caught in dating rumours when she appeared in the music video for Boyfriend, while a Us Weekly source claimed they had been “dating since June” and were “holding hands at one point.” However, none of this was ever confirmed.

Dalton Gomez, 2020 – 2023

Ariana and luxury real estate agent Dalton Gomez confirmed their relationship in May 2020, after being spotted together the previous February. According to E! News, they met as “they run in the same circle. He used to be a dancer and they have many mutual friends. She’s gotten to know him quickly with the quarantine. They’ve been spending a lot of one on one time at home.”

The pair got married just a year later in May 2021, and Ariana shared lots of wedding photos. The pair had a small wedding which Ariana’s team confirmed at the time in a statement: “They got married. It was tiny and intimate – less than 20 people. The room was so happy and full of love. The couple and both families couldn’t be happier.”

The couple split in July 2023, but TMZ claimed they had actually separated in January.

Ethan Slater, 2023

via Instagram

Ethan Slater was Ariana’s Wicked co-star and that’s where the two met. He was previously SpongeBob in SpongeBob: The Musical on Broadway.

A lot of controversy has surrounded their relationship as when they both joined the Wicked set, they were married to different people. Ariana was with Dalton, and Ethan was married to his childhood sweetheart Lilly Jay and they had a newborn baby. The two have since gone Instagram public and have been acting very cosy across the Wicked press tour.