Since Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez’s divorce first made headlines, one of the most confusing aspects of their split was the blurry timeline — particularly in light of Ari’s new relationship with her formerly married costar, Ethan Slater.
But now that Ariana and Dalton have officially filed for divorce, we’ve gotten a little more insight into how and when things may have unraveled behind closed doors.
Yesterday, the exes filed simultaneous petitions to officially end their marriage, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for divorce.
When the news of their split broke on July 17, TMZ reported that the pair had been separated since January. However, the new divorce docs apparently reveal that their official date of separation was slightly later on Feb. 20.
Based on what we know, this date pretty closely aligns with the reports about the breakdown of their marriage. Allow me to explain.
So, toward the end of 2022, Ariana relocated to the UK to begin production on the two Wicked movies, in which she is set to star as Glinda. We don’t know exactly when she moved, although in July that year, Deadline reported that the cast and crew were situated in London and preparing for “the extensive rehearsal period that will last several weeks.”
Around this time, Ariana teased her arrival in England, and a few weeks later in September, it was reported that she was planning on renting a large property in the capital city where she and Dalton could spend time together.
As I’m sure you know, just three days after TMZ broke the news that Dalton and Ari were “heading for divorce” this summer, numerous outlets confirmed that Ariana was already dating her Wicked costar, Ethan Slater.
Being that Ethan is also newly single, he and Ariana have been accused of engaging in an “affair” on the set of the movie musical. However, inside sources have denied this, saying that Ethan and Ariana didn’t start dating until they were both separated from their respective spouses.
So, going back to 2022: Ethan and Ariana presumably met when Wicked rehearsals started. And it’s safe to say that Ariana and Dalton were still together around this time, given that he appears in a carousel of behind-the-scenes photographs she posted on Instagram on Oct. 11.
It should be noted that Ethan wasn’t pictured in that selection of rehearsal snaps, presumably because his casting as Boq hadn’t been made public at this point.
Unfortunately, this seemed to be where the marriage began to go off course, as this wound up being the last time that Dalton appeared on Ariana’s Instagram grid.
Reports have indicated that Ari and Dalton saw less of each other after filming got underway, with TMZ later claiming that they’d been “thousands of miles apart since December” and had been “having problems even before that.”
Despite this, the couple were papped together in London on Jan. 23. Page Six later claimed that Dalton made a trip to the UK around this time as “a last-ditch attempt to mend their marital woes,” but that “it didn’t work out.”
So, with all this in mind, it adds up that Dalton and Ari had called things off by mid-February, as is stated in their divorce docs. However, we comparatively know a lot less about the timeline of Ethan’s split from his wife.
For a bit of background, Ethan and his estranged wife Lilly Jay met in high school. They publicly celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary in November 2022, and a few months before that, they welcomed their first son together.
Ethan and Lilly were seemingly still together throughout the majority of the time he was filming Wicked in the UK this year, with Lilly and their baby allegedly visiting the set in April — and reportedly hanging out with Ari while they were there.
As recently as May 14, Ethan gushed about Lilly in a sweet Mother’s Day tribute on Instagram, and it appears that Ari liked the post.
Despite this, sources have alleged that Ari and Ethan were romantically involved around this time, with insiders claiming that the two were openly engaging in a “sloppy” affair.
When Ethan and Lilly were believed to still be “happily married,” he and Ari were apparently “all over each other” while celebrating Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar win at a party in March. And on another occasion, they were allegedly “seen making out at a pub.”
In spite of the fact that Ari and Dalton had secretly split by this point, the singer also still publicly celebrated their second wedding anniversary in May, sharing on her Instagram story a photograph of them kissing alongside the caption: “i love him so.”
Why Ariana would publicly profess her love for Dalton three months after their secret separation remains unclear, but it perhaps suggests that she was attempting to put fans off the scent of their marital issues.
Fast-forward to June 27, Ari and Ethan were photographed with their arms around each other while on a trip to Soho Farmhouse the day after her 30th birthday. Less than a month after this, their relationship was confirmed by People, which claimed that the pair had “recently” begun dating.
News of Ariana’s divorce had already surfaced by this point, and the outlet claimed that Ethan was also recently separated. Although, it wasn’t for another six days that he filed for divorce from Lilly on July 26.
So, with all this going on, there were already a lot of questions being raised about the timeline of Ari and Ethan’s romance — and the accusations of an affair weren’t helped when Lilly spoke out to publicly slam Ariana, saying that she isn’t a “girl’s girl.”
However, sources close to the new couple have continued to emphasize that Ethan and Ari didn’t start dating until they were both single, with one insider claiming that Ethan and Lilly had been separated for “two months” before his new relationship began.
As the speculation continues to swirl, neither Ariana nor Ethan has publicly commented on their relationship.
