Celebrity
Ariana Grande Is Reportedly Dating SpongeBob & Twitter Is Obsessed
The singer is reportedly dating her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, who earned a Tony nomination for playing SpongeBob on Broadway.
Ariana Grande has had quite the week. First, production on her Wicked movies was halted just a few days before filming was set to wrap due to the actors’ strike. Then, on July 17, it was reported that the singer had separated from her husband Dalton Gomez in January after almost two years of marriage. Just three days later, it was reported that Grande was now dating her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, which made Twitter realize just one thing: Grande is dating SpongeBob.
Slater portrayed the iconic sponge in SpongeBob Squarepants: The Musical on Broadway in 2017, and even garnered a Tony nomination for his performance. It’s a full-circle moment for Grande, who also got her start as a Nickelodeon star in the musical sitcom Victorious and her spinoff Sam & Cat.
According to PEOPLE, Grande and Slater “recently began dating,” following her breakup with Gomez and his own separation from wife Lilly Jay, with whom he welcomed his first child in 2022. “They have a lot in common and have a lot of fun,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. Slater will play Boq in the Wicked movies, a munchkin who is the subject of Elphaba’s sister Nessarose’s affections but is actually in love with Grande’s character Galinda.
However, Twitter couldn’t get over the SpongeBob connection, immediately expressing both shock and excitement over Grande and Slater’s new relationship with memes.
Many fans pointed out how much sense it made for Grande to be dating someone who played SpongeBob given that she’s a certified stan of the cartoon, as proven by the number of times she has sung SpongeBob classics like “F.U.N.” and “Krusty Krab Pizza,” whether onstage or at home.
There was also some confusion among fans, some of whom thought that people were talking about Tom Kenny, the man who voices SpongeBob on the cartoon show, rather than Slater when they said that Grande was dating SpongeBob. For the record, Grande is not dating Tom Kenny.
Grande and Slater’s movie Wicked will be released in two parts in 2024 and 2025.
