Ariana Grande is dipping her feet back in the dating pond again with a familiar face.
Us Weekly can confirm the Grammy winner, 33, and Ricky Alvarez are back together nearly 10 years after their initial split. (People was first to report the news.)
“They’ve always shared a close bond,” an insider exclusively told Us earlier this month after the pair were seen leaving a Whole Foods in Boca Raton, Florida, during the 4th of July weekend. “There was a period in time where they weren’t close — while she was with Ethan [Slater] — so she is happy to reconnect with him again.”
The source continued, “Ariana is grateful to have him in her life right now, and he’s been a huge source of support.”
News broke in June that Grande had officially called it quits with Slater, 34, after nearly three years of dating. At the time, a source said they had been quietly broken up for several months.
“It’s amicable. They gave lots of time and careful consideration and decided to go their separate ways,” the insider shared at the time. “They are still friends and very supportive of one another.”
In recent days, fans have kept their focus on Alvarez, especially after Grande changed the lyrics to one of her hit songs during a concert at the Barclays Center in New York on Monday, July 13.
On her original 2018 single “Thank U, Next,” the singer referenced her previous romance with Alvarez while name-checking numerous exes, reminiscing, “Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh.”
During her recent concert, however, Grande switched the lyrics to “Wrote some songs about Ricky / We always find our way back.”
She also previously fueled reconciliation rumors during her show in Austin, Texas, on June 26, singing to the crowd, “Wrote some songs about Ricky / Know he still got my back.”
Alvarez is a successful photographer who shares his work on social media. He previously was a backup dancer for Grande on her 2014 to 2015 Honeymoon Tour. They started dating in 2015 before calling it quits in 2016.
While appearing on the Zach Sang Show in 2019, Grande revealed that Alvarez frequently joked about his shout-out in “Thank U, Next.”
“Ricky loved it. He was proud. But Ricky was like, ‘Why did I get the worst line?’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’” she recalled. “He was like, ‘Everyone else’s line is so nice, and mine is like, ‘Man, f*** him, he’s trash.’ I was like, I could have said that. I could’ve said, ‘Wrote some songs about Ricky, never mind he’s trash.’ … But I didn’t. I said, ‘Now I listen and laugh.’”
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