Entertainment

Ariana Grande Just Reflected On Her "Frivolous & Fun” Relationship With Pete Davidson

by Savannah Walsh
Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Ariana Grande is officially saying, "Thank U, Next," to her summer romance with Pete Davidson, a year later. Of course, the pair initially split in the fall of 2018, putting a decisive period at the end of a love story the Internet couldn't get enough of. But in the latest issue of Vogue, Grande opened up about her breakup with Davidson— and the singer's take on their relationship is hotter than its rollercoaster run.

The "7 rings" artist revealed that her romance with the SNL performer began after her emotional breakup with Mac Miller.

"My friends were like, 'Come [to New York City]! We're gonna have a fun summer.' And then I met Pete, and it was an amazing distraction. It was frivolous and fun and insane and highly unrealistic, and I loved him, and I didn't know him. I'm like an infant when it comes to real life and this old soul, been-around-the-block-a-million-times artist. I still don't trust myself with the life stuff."

"Frivolous and fun," is certainly one way to brand the relationship with her former fiancé. But as most fans can recall, Grande and Davidson's engagement lasted only a few short months before talks of custody agreements for shared pet Piggy Smalls ensued. So, "distraction" could be the right word to encapsulate the fever dream that was Ari and Pete.

Grande channeled the heartbreak following their split into her album Thank U, Next, which was released less than six months after Sweetener (one of its tracks was named after her new love at the time). She spoke to Vogue about how her personal life influenced her creative process:

"I think that this is the first album [Thank U, Next] and also the first year of my life where I'm realizing that I can no longer put off spending time with myself, just as me. I've been boo'd up my entire adult life. I've always had someone to say goodnight to. So Thank U, Next was this moment of self-realization. It was this scary moment of 'Wow, you have to face all this stuff now. No more distractions. You have to heal all this sh*t."

The singer, who is currently on her Sweetener tour, said her personal life, as well as her own sense of herself, is a work in progress. "I have this idea of what I’d like to be," Grande explained. "I can see this stronger, amazing, fearless version of myself that one day I hope to evolve into. Sometimes I try to be that for my fans before I actually am that myself. I think I've been avoiding putting in the work."

Grande's recent comments regarding Davidson, Miller, and her personal struggles in general, are her first public statements on her whirlwind year. Last month, fans speculated that Grande covered a Davidson-related tattoo. Before that, Davidson took to the Weekend Update desk on Saturday Night Live to address the breakup, calling it "nobody's business."

Now that Ari has said her piece, other than her rumored musings in the song, "in my head," it feels like this once obsessed-over couple's chapter is finally closing. Can we get a collective thank you and onto the next?