Ariana Grande's brother gushes about her boyfriend Ethan Slater (2024)

Ariana Grande's older brother, Frankie Grande, has shared his thoughts on his sister's relationship with 'wonderful' boyfriend, Ethan Slater.

The We Can't Be Friends songstress, 30, was first confirmed to be dating the Tony nominee, 32, last year in July - shortly after her split from ex-husband, Dalton Gomez.

While recently attending Gurus Magazine's #30Voices30Days launch party in Los Angeles, Frankie — who was previously trolled by fans who claimed he and Ethan look like twins — talked about the actor during an interview with TooFab.

'I love him, he's a very sweet guy. I've been a fan of him ever since seeing him in SpongeBob [the musical],' Ariana's brother expressed.

'And I got to interview him when I was doing the SpongeBob SquarePants podcast. And the Broadway community is a tight-knit family.'

'He's a great guy. Ethan's a wonderful guy,' Frankie further gushed. 'He's very sweet. He's very very very sweet. I just, I adore him.'

'I...honestly, I've always just said this, all I want is for my sister to be happy and when she's happy I’m happy. So I'm very happy.'

Ariana and Ethan met while filming the upcoming musical film adaption, Wicked, in England - which is set to hit theaters later this year on November 27.

Frankie recalled having the opportunity to visit his younger sister on set of the movie, and witnessed the former Nickelodeon actress and Cynthia Erivo film the song, Defying Gravity.

'I was on set. I got to go visit my sister and Cynthia, I was there when they shot Defying Gravity which was so incredible.'

'I mean, getting to see my little sister, who I have been her number one fan and cheerleader for her whole entire life, do her dream role on that level and be so good at it, I was a mess.'

The Broadway star admitted, 'I was weeping and you know, I wept through the trailer, I still cry when the trailer comes on.'

He also talked about the moment Ariana revealed to him that she had been cast as Glinda the Good Witch. 'We were messes when she told us.'

'She actually came to see me in a show and she pulled me aside and told me and both of us hit the ground, on the floor, weeping. Like it was as dramatic as ever as you could possibly imagine.'

Frankie added, 'It was a beautiful moment and all of the moments since then, you know, have just been absolutely magical, magical! No pun intended.'

It comes after Ariana has been trolled by fans who were quick to point out that her boyfriend bears a striking resemblance to her older brother.

Creator Katie McBroom of @martinisandmascara was among the first to comment on the unsettling similarities, sharing side-by-side pics of Frankie and Ethan alongside a comment that read: 'I'm no Freud... but like, this seems interesting.'

Following the post, dozens of other social media users weighed in including none other than Charlotte Freud, great-great-granddaughter of Sigmund himself, with the hot take: 'As a Freud I can concur this is weird as f**k.'

'[T]hank you... yikes,' another chimed in with a pun on the hit Ariana track.

A third echoed: 'I cannot get over how she would literally wreck a marriage over to someone that looks like her brother like ???? This is mentally sickening.'

'"It's like I've known you my whole life,"' quipped someone else.

The distain spread across to TikTok too where people seemed no less disturbed.

'[T]hat's not the same person?' one wrote on a slideshow juxtaposing the two, savagely set to Justin Timberlake's Mirrors.

'BYE. The way they both smile more to one side as well,' wrote another.

One post on Reddit sub r/EthanSlaterSnark declared, 'Break up with my brother…I’m bored' - alongside yet another barely distinguishable juxtaposition of Ariana's brother and current boyfriend.

In July of last year, it was confirmed that Ariana had split from ex-husband, Dalton, although it was later revealed that the pair had officially separated months earlier in January.

Slater also separated from wife, Lilly Jay, after the two tied the knot in 2018. The former couple also share a son who was welcomed to the world in August 2022.

That same month in July 2023, a source told Peoplethat Grande and Slater were in a relationship. '[Ariana] and Ethan recently began dating, and he is separated from his wife.'

And a few months later in September, the songstress officially filed for divorce from Dalton - with Gomez also filing soon after. The divorce was finalized earlier this year in March.

In October, a separate insider informed Us Weekly that Ariana and Ethan had moved in together in NYC.

'Ethaninformed his friends and soon-to-be ex-wife [Lilly Jay] that he's living with Ariana full-time in New York,' the source stated. 'They're really happy and really good for each other. All of her friends love him.'

She also supported Ethan by attending some of his Spamalot shows in the Big Apple, such as attending the final performance this year in April.

In February, Grande commented on the narrative that had surrounded her relationship with Slater on The Zach Sang Show.

'I feel like we don't need to go into any specifics,' the actress stated. 'But of course, there's an insatiable frustration, inexplicable, hellish feeling with watching people misunderstand the people you love, and you and anything.'

On March 8, Ariana dropped her seventh studio album titled, Eternal Sunshine, which included the single Yes, And?

'Ariana is feeling great in general and super proud of her new album,' a source told Entertainment Tonight at the time. 'Ethan has been by her side, supporting her both personally and professionally.'

In April, some of the Wicked cast - including Ariana and Ethan - attended 2024 CinemaCon together in Las Vegas.

And most recently, Grande sweetly supported Slater during opening night of his Cafe Carlyle residency in NYC late last month in May.