Ariana Grande Spotted With Ex Ricky Alvarez Following Ethan Slater Split

Ariana Grande is running it back!

The “7 Rings” singer was spotted out to eat with ex-boyfriend, Ricky Alvarez, in Austin, Texas, where she’s performing for three nights on her Eternal Sunshine Tour. In a photo shared by Pop Insider and then reposted by 365 Things Austin on Friday, Grande — who turned 33 on June 26 — was seen smiling as she sat across Ricky and another unknown man at Austin’s De Nada Cantina.

The outlet also reported that the sighting comes after Grande allegedly changed the lyrics that mention Alvarez in her hit, “Thank U, Next,” during her June 24 show in the Texas capitol. The original lyrics read: “Wrote some songs about Ricky, now I listen and laugh,” while Wednesday’s show saw Grande sing: “Wrote some songs about Ricky, now they still kinda slap.”

While the sighting has sent the internet abuzz, according to TMZ, the pair are simply pals, with a source familiar with the situation telling the outlet, “Ari has friends in Austin for her birthday — she turned 33 today — and Ricky is one of the friends.”

Grande and Alvarez began dating in April 2015 after working together during the singer’s Honeymoon Tour, and broke up just over a year later in July 2016. The pair made headlines after the infamous “donut-licking” incident, which saw the then-couple licking donuts in a shop in Lake Elsinore, California. Grande issued an apology after the bizarre moment went viral.

The singer-actress’ outing with Alvarez comes just weeks after People reported that Grande and her Wicked costar, Ethan Slater had “quietly broken up” several months prior, after nearly three years of dating.

“It’s amicable, they gave lots of time and careful consideration and decided to go their separate ways,” a source told the outlet at the time. “They are still friends and very supportive of one another.”

The Grammy winner and Slater, who met on the set of the beloved movie-musical, got together after his highly publicized divorce from Lilly Jay, and Grande’s split from ex-husband Dalton Gomez. The couple were spotted out in public multiple times over the years, though they never officially announced their relationship.

And while there have been reports that Slater is still in love with Grande following their breakup, it seems the singer is very much focussed on her sold out tour, which started earlier this month, and is set to run through September 1.