Ethan Slater and Ariana Grande’s relationship has been under an intense spotlight light since fans learned of the romance, not because of their celebrity status but the rumoured controversy around Slater and his ex-wife, Dr. Lilly Jay.
Several months after beginning production on Wicked, in July 2022, the 32-year-old filed for divorce from his then wife. Two months later, news broke the Grande was also splitting from husband, Dalton Gomez.
The rumourmill went into overdrive with reports surfacing via PageSix and the Daily Mail the new couple had “flaunted” their romance among close friends and had been seen kissing in public while Slater was still married.
Soon after Lilly Jay labelled Grande “not a girl’s girl” in an interview with Page Six before calling her family “collateral damage”.
Now, the clinical psychologist in perinatal mental health & child development, has penned an essay reflecting on her divorce from Slater and how it impacted her both personally and professionally. These are the most poignant points of her essay.
Dr Lilly Jay On Divorce From Ethan Slater
On dealing with heartbreak, unable to escape the Wicked promotional tour… “No one gets married thinking they’ll get divorced, in the same way we don’t board a plane expecting to crash. But I really never thought I would get divorced. Especially not just after giving birth to my first child and especially not in the shadow of my husband’s new relationship with a celebrity,” she begins.
On growing apart from Slater…”I confidently moved to another country with my 2-month-old baby and my husband to support his career. Consumed by the magic and mundanity of new motherhood, I didn’t understand the growing distance between us.”
On co-parenting with her ex…”While our partnership has changed, our parenthood has not. Both of us fiercely love our son 100 percent of the time, regardless of how our parenting time is divided.”
On the impact to her work…”It’s hard to measure an absence, and I can’t say for sure how much my career has been impacted by what’s out there online. But there have been hints along the way, like the job offer that dissolved without explanation after yet another tabloid news cycle or the patient who’s scheduled for a first appointment but seemingly vanishes.”
On being thrust into the public sphere… “If I can’t be invisible anymore, I may as well introduce myself. You know how a sponge is most effective at absorbing liquid when it’s already a bit wet? Maybe we can think about my messy not-so-personal life in that way: a dose of my own loss, rage, powerlessness, sadness that helps me hold yours.”
