“Break up with your girlfriend, I’m bored” just took on a whole new meaning in the complicated love triangle between Ariana Grande, Ethan Slater, and his now-estranged wife, Lilly Jay. Just as quick as news broke on July 17 about Grande calling it quits with husband Dalton Gomez, reports are now surfacing that not only is the “Thank U, Next” singer in a relationship, but she’s apparently dating her “Wicked” costar Ethan Slater, who, as of recently, appeared to be married.
The timeline is complicated, with a source telling Us Weekly that the pair started dating after their respective breakups. “Ariana and Ethan are dating; however things are fairly new. Ariana and Dalton split in January, and Ethan is separated from his wife,” the source explained. Additionally, an insider told “Entertainment Tonight,” “They didn’t start dating until both were broken up with their significant others. Ariana and Dalton remain friends.”
But where things get complicated is on Slater’s Instagram, which he has since made private. In November 2022, he gushed about his wife on their wedding anniversary, and again on Mother’s Day in May 2023, writing (via E! News), “Happy first Mother’s Day to the most loving caring and wonderful mom/person in the world, from me and this little guy.” Meanwhile, Slater’s wife, Jay, is allegedly “completely blindsided” by the whole thing. “It’s horrible. They were high school sweethearts. They have a baby! She’s a wreck,” a source close to Jay revealed to Page Six.
If you’re curious to learn more about “Wicked” star Slater, keep reading.
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He Did Theater in High School
Before his days as SpongeBob SquarePants on Broadway, Slater was a theater kid in high school. In a 2018 Newsweek interview, Slater revealed that he was an active member of his high school’s theater department and wrestling team. While he didn’t pursue wrestling after high school, he revealed to the outlet that his time on the team helped him prepare for his breakout role as the lovable sponge in “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical.”
Per People, the actor attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, MD, and Georgetown Day School in Washington DC before enrolling at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.
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He's a Songwriter and Composer
Outside of his performative work on stage, Slater is also an accomplished songwriter and composer. In 2021, Slater wrote a concept recording for “Edge of the World: The Musical” with friend and actor/director Nick Blaemire. The duo met during the production of “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical” and connected on their mutual love for writing and acting.
Touching on the process of collaborating with Blaemire and writing the album, Slater told Broadway World in 2021, “Around then, I had started working on this show, ‘Edge of the World.’ I was sort of putting together these thoughts, and I feel like I had worked on it in a very specific kind of way, developing a bunch of songs, and the ideas, and the concepts, and the characters. And then, a couple of years ago I asked Nick if I could show it to him, and if he could give me some advice. And he very generously was like, ‘Yeah, you know what? I think that I can help make this a better show.’ So, we started working together then, really crafting something.”
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He Was a Casual "SpongeBob" Fan Growing Up
Though Slater played SpongeBob SquarePants in the self-titled Broadway musical, he was just a casual fan of the series as a kid. The “Wicked” star explained in a 2018 Vulture interview, “I would say I’m the normal level of ‘SpongeBob’ fan, which is that it’s been out since I was a kid and it’s part of the zeitgeist. It is our sense of humor. I didn’t have cable at my house growing up so I would watch it at friends’ houses and I’d watch it at my grandma’s house.”
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He Graduated From Vassar College
In addition to his notable accomplishments, including being a Tony-nominated actor, Slater graduated from the prestigious Vassar College in 2014. It’s where his journey to “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical” started.
He explained to Vulture, “I auditioned for a summer apprenticeship program, and the casting director, who was casting ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at the time, called me a week later said we have this other thing, the ‘Untitled Tina Landau Project,’ that we think you might be good for. The first audition was one scene from ‘SpongeBob’ with both the names changed. . . . It was sophomore year of college and I had stayed up until 4 a.m. the night before in the classic college fashion working on this routine.”
Getty / Mike Coppola
He Is a Father
Slater and Jay began dating in 2012. They tied the knot in 2018 and welcomed a son sometime in 2022, per Page Six.
On Mother’s Day in May 2023, Slater praised Jay with an Instagram post that read, “Happy first Mother’s Day to the most loving caring and wonderful mom/person in the world – from me and this little guy.” Not much is known about his son, as he was only born within the last year.
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His Work Was Inspired by a Tragic Loss
Loss can be a strong motivator to work, create, and perform. When Slater was just 7 years old, his mom died, which left a big hole in the family, which also consisted of his father and two siblings. When he wrote “Edge of the World: The Musical,” he was partially inspired by his mom and growing up in “isolation” and “loneliness.”
In 2021, he opened up to Pop Culturalist about the loss. “One of the big things is the mining [of] my personal experience for writing,” he said. “When I was 7 years old, my mom died, and so that’s been a really big, formative thing in my life. She had left this huge imprint on me, even though I had so few memories. And that’s what happens to this character, Ben. He grows up not knowing his mom, being raised by a single dad, and yet the impact she has on his life and his life trajectory is immeasurable.”
