“Ariana has rekindled things with Ricky, but she isn’t rushing back into the relationship,” the source said. “She has a lot on her plate at the moment and is still incredibly busy with her tour schedule, so they’re taking things one step at a time.”
The same insider said Alvarez’s continued connection to Grande’s family has mattered to her.
“Ricky has remained close with Ariana’s family over the years, and that’s something she really appreciates,” the source continued. “He has also made an effort to show up and support her while she’s on tour, which hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
According to the source, the two are “enjoying spending time together again and seeing where things go without putting too much pressure on the relationship.” Grande’s representative did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment at the time.
How the renewed speculation began
The recent attention around Grande, 33, and Alvarez, 35, did not begin in Central Park. In late June, they were seen with a group of friends at a restaurant in Austin, Texas, around the time of Grande’s birthday.
They were later photographed during the Fourth of July weekend on a grocery run at Whole Foods in Boca Raton, Florida, Grande’s hometown. A supermarket trip is not a relationship announcement on its own, but celebrity coverage has built bigger stories out of less.
The timeline then shifted to Grande’s “Eternal Sunshine” tour stop in New York City, where fans noticed a change to one of her best-known lyrics.
The “Thank U, Next” lyric that fueled fans
During Grande’s July 13 show at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, a social media clip circulated showing the singer altering a line in “Thank U, Next.”
The 2018 song references several of Grande’s former partners, including Alvarez. The original lyric says: “Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh.”
At the Brooklyn performance, Grande appeared to sing: “Wrote some songs about Ricky / We always find our way back.”
That change was enough to send fans into detective mode. In fairness, it was not exactly subtle.
Their history goes back to the Honeymoon Tour
Grande and Alvarez first dated between 2015 and 2016 after meeting when he joined her Honeymoon Tour as a backup dancer.
Their apparent second chance follows Grande’s split from Ethan Slater after three years of dating. For now, the reporting describes Grande and Alvarez as reconnecting carefully, with no public statement from Grande confirming the status of the relationship.
What is clear is that they have been seen together several times in recent weeks, from Austin to Florida to New York. Whether that becomes something more formal remains, as the source put it, a matter of seeing where things go.
