Ethan Slater and Ariana Grande’s relationship has been front and centre this year. And particularly amid the global press tour for Wicked, the couple has become one of the most talked-about in the world.
The pair met while filming Wicked in 2023. And while it is not known when Slater and Grande officially got together, it is reported to have come amidst Slater’s split from former wife Dr Lilly Jay.
Jay, a clinical psychologist, has spoken out about Slater and Grande’s relationship in the past, once reportedly telling Page Six: “[Ariana’s] the story, really. My family is just collateral damage.”
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This week, Jay spoke out officially, releasing a personal essay about her experience of divorce for The Cut. And her powerful words have since gone viral.
“No one gets married thinking they’ll get divorced, in the same way we don’t board a plane expecting to crash. But I really never thought I would get divorced,” read Jay’s personal essay. “Especially not just after giving birth to my first child and especially not in the shadow of my husband’s new relationship with a celebrity.”
She continued: “In this season of shock and mourning, over a year after the end of my marriage was made public, I deeply miss the life of invisibility I created for myself as a psychologist specialising in women’s mental health.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jay also went on to talk about motherhood, with her and Slater sharing a two-year-old son.
“In the countless hours I spend rocking my son to sleep, pushing his stroller, marvelling at his sweaty little hands grasping a crayon, I work diligently on my private project of accepting the sudden public downfall of my marriage,” she wrote. “Slowly but surely, I have come to believe that in the absence of the life I planned with my high-school sweetheart, a lifetime of sweetness is waiting for me and my child.”
“As for me, days with my son are sunny,” she later concluded. “Days when I can’t escape the promotion of a movie associated with the saddest days of my life are darker.”
Read Dr. Lilly Jay’s full personal essay here.