Cynthia Erivo reveals dark truth of Wicked press tour and Ariana Grande’s joint ‘struggle’

Months after the Wicked press tour ended, Cynthia Erivo has opened up about the huge mental toll it took on her and co-star Ariana Grande.

For the past couple of years, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have spent a lot of time promoting both Wicked and its sequel, Wicked for Good. The two films had a press run of over 400 days between them, while most film press releases only last a few weeks. We got loads of memes and viral moments from all the media appearances; however, behind the scenes, things weren’t so cheery.

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In a new interview with Variety, Cynthia Erivo has opened up about the mental toll the press tour took on both her and Ariana Grande.

“We were holding on by threads, and we were really trying to take care of each other,” Cynthia said.

She continued: “It’s very interesting, watching what people’s perception is versus what the reality actually is.”

The Wicked press tours brought a lot of scrutiny to Cynthia and Ariana’s mental states and their friendship. Many thought their relationship was overly close, and criticised the pair for repeatedly crying in interviews.

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“[There were] lots of psychologists seated at home deciding who we were, what we were going through, what we were doing and why,” Cynthia said of the issue.

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“I think that people didn’t really believe that we were actually friends, but that’s also because people don’t know me very well.”

Another aspect of the press tour that Cynthia opened up about was the infamous Singapore incident, in which Ariana was grabbed by a stranger who was later arrested. The moment inspired memes that promoted misgynoir, portraying Cynthia as some sort of “bodyguard” for Ariana just because of he appearance.

“It was my physique; it was my shape; it was the fact that I was bald; it was about how I looked. And because of that, there was this assumption that I was bigger than my co-star, so I had to be controlling or protective, and that was my role. I would hazard a guess that it would not have been the same had it been the other way around.”

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Featured image via Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock