For an iconic pop diva like Ariana Grande, it’s only natural for fans to be curious about every aspect of her glamorous life. After all, the star has had a string of pretty prominent relationships over the years, and she’s written about many of them in her music (*ahem* “thank u, next”). But who is Ariana Grande dating now? As it turns out, she might be in a brand new relationship. All I can say is… I can’t wait for the catchy new jams that might come from this rumored fling.
Here’s what fans know so far: On August 2, Grande released her new song “Boyfriend,” a collaboration with the band Social House. The music video came out that same day, which features Grande and Social House’s Mikey Foster as love interests with a steamy makeout scene at the end. While the video alone isn’t enough proof that they’re together IRL, a deep dive into social media will provide more context clues about this rumored relationship. (Elite Daily reached out to representatives for Grande to ask about her speculated relationship with Foster, but did not hear back by the time of publication.)
First of all, when the song came out, both artists posted a ton of photos about it on Instagram — and not just photos promoting the music, but photos of the two of them, looking super freaking cute and happy. And in the cover art for the single, Grande and Foster can be seen very subtly holding hands (though Grande cropped this part out when she tweeted the photo).
On Grande’s birthday back in June, Foster posted a baby photo of her along with this super sweet caption: “Ur one of the most incredible people the universe has to offer. I hope this year offers u nothing but the joy u deserve. Love u. happy birthday.” Grande responded, “love u sooooooo much.” And then, to add even more fuel to the fire, the two were spotted out together in Chicago on Monday, August 5 — and Us Weekly reported that they were seen holding hands.
While it’s too early to know for sure if Grande and Foster are an item, all these clues point to the idea that there might be something happening between them. And if so, this will be the first time Grande has been publicly linked to someone since her breakup with Pete Davidson in October 2018. To celebrate this new rumored romance, here’s a list of the notable relationships Grande has had in the past:
Pete Davidson
Unless you were living under a rock for the entirety of summer 2018, you probably heard about this brief but very public relationship. Grande and comedian Pete Davidson met at an SNL afterparty in May 2018, and they were engaged just weeks later — to much gushing by both of them on social media. For the next few months, they attended red carpets together, did interviews about one another, and Grande even wrote Davidson into her sweetener album in a very big way. Sadly, things ended almost as quickly as they began, and the couple broke up in October of that same year.
Mac Miller
Before Davidson, there was rapper Mac Miller, whom Grande met in 2012, developed a friendship with, and later dated for several years. The two artists collaborated on multiple songs, and at one point fans even speculated they might be engaged. But Grande and Miller ended things in May 2018, just weeks before her whirlwind relationship with Davidson began.
After Miller’s death in September 2018, Grande penned a song about him for her album thank u, next. And in August 2019, she spoke to Vogue about their relationship and what it was like to grieve that loss. “He was the best person ever, and he didn’t deserve the demons he had,” she told the magazine. “I was the glue for such a long time, and I found myself becoming... less and less sticky. The pieces just started to float away.”
Ricky Alvarez
Grande dated backup dancer Ricky Alvarez for about a year, beginning in summer 2015. To help refresh your memory of that faraway time… this is the guy from the infamous viral donut-licking video in July 2015. Alvarez is one of the exes shouted out in Grande’s hit single “thank u, next,” in which she sings, “Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh.” If you need a good laugh yourself, check out the video of Alvarez listening to the song for the first time. Grande shared the video to her story and said, ““HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH IM SORRY U GOT THE WORST LINE @rickyrozay it was meant v lovingly.” Clearly, these two are still on good terms.
Big Sean
Before Alvarez was Sean Anderson, known professionally as rapper Big Sean. He and Grande were first linked in August 2014 and dated for nine months before they decided to end things. Their relationship made headlines again in February 2019, when they were spotted hanging out and some people thought they might be reconciling. But a source later told Us Weekly that Grande and Anderson were just “friends.”
Nathan Sykes
One ex who is mysteriously left out of “thank u, next” is singer Nathan Sykes, former member of the band The Wanted. Grande dated him for a few months in 2013, and they collaborated on the song “Almost is Never Enough” for the soundtrack to Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
Graham Phillips
Way back before Grande was a Nickelodeon star, she met actor Graham Phillips on the set of the Broadway musical 13 back in 2008. They dated for three years before calling it quits, and they’re still friendly to this day. Phillips even attended one of Grande’s shows in 2015 and posted that he was proud to see her perform.
And, scene. If you kept up through all that, you’re a champion! It’s not easy to keep Grande’s former relationships straight, but one thing is for sure — most have them have resulted in some seriously catchy tunes. So, if Grande and Foster are truly an item now, I can’t wait for the creative musical collabs that are (hopefully) in store.
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