Ariana Grande's Secrets From 'Wicked' Set: Relationship With Ethan Slater, Health Concerns and More

Wicked main stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo admired each other's work but were strangers when they signed on to play besties Glinda and Elphaba. That soon changed.

"They quickly became inseparable," an insider told Star. "They think of themselves as sisters."

The two even enjoyed shopping in character, with Grande reaching for Glinda's signature pink and Erivo opting for darker hues.

Theirs wasn't the only relationship to blossom on set.

A month after shooting began in London in December 2022, Grande quietly split from her realtor husband, Dalton Gomez. Reports that she was getting cozy with costar Ethan Slater, 32, soon followed, with things getting messy in July, when he reportedly blindsided his wife, high school sweetheart Lilly Jay, by asking for a divorce. (Their son was born in 2022.)

While fans were shocked, the insider said things on set remained professional.

"It didn't get in the way of filming," said the source. "Nobody on set really knew what was happening."

Grande later defended the romance, denying in Vanity Fair that Slater, who plays the Munchkin Boq, deserted his wife and child.

"There couldn't be a less accurate depiction of a human being," she insisted. "No one on this earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about."

The 5-foot-1 star has also had to contend with rumors about her health, including speculation about plastic surgery, including getting a b--- lift.

"No, that wouldn't work for me," she said, acknowledging that the only procedures she's had are "fillers in various places and Botox... I stopped like four years ago."

As for her tiny frame, a concern for some fans, the insider said both Grande and Erivo had a trainer on set "to keep up their energy and keep the momentum going."

That momentum came to a screeching halt in July when production stopped amid the SAG-AFTRA strike. Erivo had yet to shoot her big "Defying Gravity" number. Since all singing was recorded live, director Jon M. Chu was stressed the 38-year-old might lose her mojo, keeping in daily contact. Once filming resumed in January, he said, "She was ready to fly."

The insider said the live vocals were a thrill to all on set: "There were grown men and women weeping after takes!"

Erivo had her own dustup with fans after some quibbled that the movie poster differed from the Broadway show's because it showed Elphaba/Erivo's full face rather than obscuring it with her witch's hat.

"It degrades me," she clapped back after some posted Photoshopped versions covering her face. "I am a real-life human being."

With a bit of a diva rep (never forget her licking doughnuts!), Grande was a natural for Wicked's frenemy dynamic. But she and Erivo can take a page from OG Glinda Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, who played Elphaba, proving that two female leads don't have to fight.

Dogged by rumors of a feud as they were both nominated for Tony, Menzel referred to the show's song "For Good."

As Chenoweth said, "It's very healing."