Ethan Slater Subtly Supports Ariana Grande’s ‘SNL’ Hosting Gig

Ariana Grande‘s boyfriend, Ethan Slater, celebrated her Saturday Night Live hosting gig during the Saturday, October 12 episode.

Taking to Instagram Stories on Sunday, October 13, the 32-year-old Broadway star reposted a clip from SNL‘s official account from Grande’s tenure. In the sketch, Grande, 31, played a Renaissance-era singing hoping to impress the prince (Andrew Dismukes). Show alums Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg made cameos as the pop star’s parents.

Slater also dropped a “like” on SNL‘s post about the skit.

Grande returned to Saturday Night Live to host this weekend’s episode, which featured musical guest Stevie Nicks. Grande first hosted the show in March 2016 and previously appeared as a musical guest in September 2014 and this March.

As for her romance with Slater, Grande met the actor while shooting the upcoming two-part Wicked film adaptation. News of their relationship broke in July 2023, the same month that Us Weekly confirmed she and Dalton Gomez had separated after two years of marriage. Shortly after, Slater filed for divorce from his ex-wife, Lilly Jay, with whom he welcomed a son in 2022. Grande and Slater finalized their respective divorce proceedings in October 2023 and September of this year.

In November 2023, a source shared how Grande and Slater forged a connection. “They’re a little dorky and [both] theater geeks at heart. She loves that about him. It’s mutual,” the insider exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. “Their relationship is blossoming. It’s effortless with zero drama.”

A second source revealed in June that Grande is “her authentic self” with Slater, adding that their romance is “not superficial but more intellectual and emotional.”

Grande is “finally fulfilled in a relationship,” according to the insider, who noted that “her family trusts [Ethan] because he’s caring and a gentleman.”

Rumors have swirled about the timeline of Grande and Slater’s romance since the news broke. Although she initially remained tight-lipped about the speculation, she addressed the drama at length in her Vanity Fair cover story published in September, confessing that the negative attention surrounding her relationship “doesn’t get any easier.”

“Of course, I went through a lot of life changes during the filming of [Wicked],” she explained. “A lot of people that were working on it did. We were away for two years.”

Grande then reacted to the rumors of how her romance with Slater began. “The most disappointing part was to see so many people believe the worst of it,” she said. “That was definitely a tough ride.”

She went on to defend Slater amid misconceptions about him. “There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being. … No one on this earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about,” she insisted. “There is no one on this earth with a better heart.”

While Grande “will never go into certain details” of her and Slater’s relationship, she emphasized that she would not let the drama impede her personal growth.

“Honestly, it’s taken me a lot of hard work to be able to last this long and to heal certain parts of my relationship to fame and to what I do because of these tabloids that have been trying to destroy me since I was 19 years old,” she said. “But you know what? I’m 31 years old and I’m not a perfect person, but I am definitely deeply good, and I’m proud of who I’m becoming.”