The ex she laughed about in a hit song is her boyfriend again
- Nov 2, 2026
Ariana Grande, 33, has shared new photos with boyfriend Ricky Alvarez, 35, and they leave no doubt the romance is still on.
The twist: he's the same Ricky she sang about in "thank u, next", the 2018 hit where she looked back on her exes one by one.
Grande posted the carousel to Instagram on Monday, E! News reported. The first slide shows her wrapped around Alvarez on her tiptoes, the two locked in eye contact.
Another is a dimly lit selfie of Grande kissing his forehead while he closes his eyes. The post also showed off her new flipped bob.
From backup dancer to boyfriend, twice
Alvarez joined Grande's Honeymoon Tour as a backup dancer in 2015, and the two started dating that year, according to E! News. They split in 2016.
When "thank u, next" came out two years later, Grande sang that she had written songs about Ricky and now listened back to them and laughed.
She isn't laughing now.
The lyric that gave it away
Grande split from her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater after three years, E! News confirmed in June. Weeks later, fans noticed she was changing the Ricky line on tour.
At her birthday show in Austin on June 26, with Alvarez in the crowd, she sang that he still had her back, Billboard reported. At Brooklyn's Barclays Center on July 13, the new line suggested the pair always find their way back to each other.
She soft-launched him on Instagram on July 27 with a clip of two clinking olives and a caption that teased her album Petal. By August they were Instagram official.
petal season continued …….. !
Ariana Grande, on Instagram
Then came the ink. On Aug. 15, Grande showed off a new "I do love you" tattoo on her collarbone, E! News reported. Alvarez has the same words on his own collarbone, in a different font.
In September he posted a photo of her tattoo along with a kiss selfie.
Neither has said much more than the photos do. Grande has a busy month ahead: she plays Olivia Jones in Focker-In-Law, which opens in cinemas on Nov. 25.
Whether Alvarez joins her on that red carpet is the next thing fans will be watching.
