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.
When it was announced that he was going to be in the movie on Dec. 7, Ethan commemorated the moment by posting a previously unseen photograph of his and Ari’s feet in what appears to be a rehearsal room, marking the start of their public relationship as costars.
On Dec. 9, Wicked director Jon M. Chu confirmed that filming had begun, and around this time, it appeared that Ariana and Dalton were still happily together, with her posting a selfie of them on her Instagram page on Nov. 29.
Lost my phone…so I couldn’t keep up today with the announcements especially while we were shooting day 3 here in London. Just know things are going great. The #WickedMovie is really happening and I have 3 days of footage of prove it 🙂 oh also JEFF GOLDBLUME IS THE WIZARD!!!! https://t.co/ygjqdR7TVy
— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) December 9, 2022
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