Ariana Grande and Ricky Alvarez are back together a decade after they first dated, with reports confirming the reunion in mid-July 2026 following the singer’s split from Ethan Slater.
The pair originally dated for about a year from 2015 and have quietly reconnected over recent weeks, with a group hang in Texas in June and a Fourth of July celebration alongside Grande’s family in Florida, as reported by TMZ.
Insiders say the two are taking the rekindled romance slowly.
How fans spotted the Ariana Grande and Ricky Alvarez reunion
Speculation had been building since Grande began tweaking the lyrics of Thank U, Next on her Eternal Sunshine Tour.
During a performance on 24 June 2026 she sang, “Wrote some songs about Ricky, now they still kinda slap,” swapping in a nod to her former dancer that fans instantly clocked.
The clues grew louder at her show on 13 July 2026 at New York’s Barclays Centre, which fell on Alvarez’s birthday. This time Grande sang, “Wrote some songs about Ricky / We always find our way back,” a line fans read as all but confirming the couple had reunited.
Social media lit up within hours of the Barclays lyric change, with clips of the moment racking up millions of views as fans dissected every word.
For a fanbase practised in reading meaning into Grande’s setlists, the switch amounted to as close to a public confirmation as the singer was ever likely to give.
Who is Ricky Alvarez
Ricky Alvarez first entered Grande’s orbit as a backing dancer on her early tours, and the two dated for roughly a year before splitting in 2015.
He has kept a far lower profile than the pop star in the decade since, which is part of why the low-key nature of their reunion has caught fans off guard.
What the reunion means for Ariana Grande
The reunion lands weeks after Grande and Ethan Slater ended their relationship, a split Swisher Post reported as amicable and mutual.
Her romance with Alvarez predates the Slater era entirely, stretching back to a chapter of her career before the run of blockbuster albums that turned her into a global headliner.
There is a neat symmetry to the timing that has not been lost on fans.
Grande and Alvarez got back together roughly ten years after they first parted, turning a footnote from her pre-fame years into one of the more talked-about celebrity reconciliations of the northern hemisphere summer.
Neither Grande nor Alvarez has commented publicly, keeping the romance in the realm of lyric-decoding and sightings rather than an official announcement.
With the Eternal Sunshine Tour still on the road, fans will be listening closely to every show for the next verse in a love story now ten years in the making.
