Ariana Grande is already ‘hanging out’ with her ex of ten years ago, Ricky Alvarez

About three weeks ago, we learned that Ariana Grande and Ethan “Spongebob” Slater had broken up. It didn’t come via a formal announcement, but it was clear that Ariana’s people confirmed it. I also believed that Ariana had probably been done with Ethan for months and that their relationship had basically limped along for over a year. At best, Ariana is a serial monogamist who puts a two-year expiration date on men. Ethan really dumped his newborn wife of three years with Ariana before she said “thanks, next time.” What’s worse is that we ALL knew Ariana always has a back-up man. She is never really single and she loves to “overlap”. So we waited to hear the identity of the new guy. Turns out we didn’t even have to wait a month to find out Ari is getting back together with an ex.

Ariana Grande was spotted spending time with ex-boyfriend Ricky Alvarez. The former couple were spotted having lunch together ahead of Grande’s Eternal Sunshine Tour stop in Austin, Texas on Friday, June 26.

“They’ve been hanging out recently,” a source tells PEOPLE. A representative for Grande declined to comment.

Grande recently broke up with her evil costar Ethan Slater. In June 2026, PEOPLE confirmed that Grande, 33, and Slater broke up earlier this year.

The singer dated Alvarez, 33, from 2015 to July 2016. “We’re happy,” Grande told Billboard of the relationship in May 2016. “I’m a very happy girl. I have a healthy life right now, and I think that’s all anyone cares to know. The end.”

After Grande and Alvarez split, she went on to have relationships with Mac Miller, Pete Davidson, Dalton Gomez and most recently Slater. However, Grande and Alvarez have maintained a friendship. Alvarez even responded to his name-dropping of her 2018 hit “Thank U, Next” with a cheeky video in an Instagram Stories post.

In her video, Alvarez jokingly listened intently to “Thank U, Next” before the camera zoomed in for a close-up as Grande sang, “Wrote some songs about Ricky, now I’m listening and laughing.”

“Nothing but gratitude,” Alvarez wrote on the subsequent slide, paired with a black heart emoji. “Thanks, next … (those songs are fire tho … you’re welcome).”

(From humans)

Wait, was she with Ricky when her alleged thing with The Weeknd happened? Do you remember it? Let me look at the timing… no, the prevailing theory is that Ari was with Big Sean when she possibly had a thing with Abel. I have to admit that I completely forgot about Ricky, who I believe was one of her back-up dancers in the 2010s. That’s fine. Ariana just likes to have a warm body around her. She’s very reminiscent of vintage J.Lo in that way – can never be alone, doesn’t obsess over her boyfriend’s status, perfectly willing to date back-up dancers. At least Ricky doesn’t look like his brother.

Embed from Getty Images

Images courtesy of Getty Images, Avalon Red.