Ariana Grande's rumored new boyfriend Ethan Slater files for divorce from estranged wife

Broadway star Ethan Slater has filed for divorce from Lilly Jay as he 'lies low' with Ariana while they work on their new romance.

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Ariana Grande’s alleged new boyfriend Ethan Slater has filed for divorce from his wife, Lilly Jay. 

The Spongebob Squarepants: The Musical actor is believed to have sparked a relationship with Ariana after the pair met filming the Wicked movie in the UK. 

It is believed that both parties were single at the time of them getting romantically involved, with Ariana splitting from husband, Dalton Gomez, at the beginning of this year. 

While no party has spoken out about the claims as of yet, court records obtained by TMZ state that Slater has now officially requested the dissolution of his marriage to Lilly Jay. 

Slater, 31, started dating Jay - his high school sweetheart - in 2012 with the couple getting married in 2018.

Ethan Slater and wife

Ethan Slater has filed for divorce from his wife Lilly Jay (Image: Getty)

The pair welcomed their first child, a baby boy, in 2022. 

It’s not known when they officially split, however news broke in late July that Ariana had been seeing Slater for ‘a few months’. 

According to TMZ, who broke the story, Jay was left ‘heartbroken’ when she was told about the new relationship just days before it went into the public eye. 

In the immediate aftermath of the reports, Slater set his social media accounts to private and is yet to make them public again.

Wicked Cast

Ethan and Ariana have been dating while filming Wicked in the UK (Image: Getty)

The site further claims that Ariana and Slater are trying to ‘lay low’ out of respect to their exes as they pursue their new relationship. 

Filming for Wicked, which is largely taking place in Hertfordshire, England, is currently on pause due to the SAG-AFTRA actors strike.

The strike is currently in its third week, with 160,000 actors refusing to work until they get better pay, residual agreements and reassurance around artificial intelligence within the industry. 

Filming ceased on July 14 - just 10 days before they were due to wrap up.

Ariana

Ariana split from husband Dalton Gomez earlier this year (Image: Getty)

The film will star Ariana as Glinda the Good Witch alongside Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, in the origin story of how she became known as The Wizard of Oz’s ‘Wicked Witch of The West’. 

Slater will play Boq, a resident of Munchkinland who becomes friends with Glinda and Elphaba during their time at college. 

The film will be split into two parts, with the first scheduled for release on November 27, 2024. 

Wicked: Part Two is set for release on November 26, 2025, however it’s unknown if the strike will effect this. 

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