Topics: TV And Film, Celebrity, US News, Ariana Grande
After maintaining silence following her shock split from actor husband Ethan Slater, psychologist Lilly Jay last week launched an online exposé aiming to set the record straight on his controversial new romance with Wicked co-star Ariana Grande.
Her bombshell first-person piece comes after months of speculation that Slater had long enjoyed a connection to the Glinda actress before ending his marriage earlier this year.
For those out of the loop, the magical musical was first cast in 2021 - with Grande, 31, bagging the 'Good Witch' role and Slater landing Boq - but filming only began last year following a writer's strike.
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In 2018, Slater wed 'childhood' sweetheart Lilly Jay - whom he'd been in a relationship with for six years prior - with happy couple going on to welcome a beautiful baby boy together in 2022.
Not long after filming kicked off for the star-studded flick in 2023, however, did speculation begin spreading that Slater had gotten close to Grande between scenes.
Though they opted not to address the rumours at the time, fans of the film were surprised earlier this year when they simultaneously ended both of their previously marriages - Slater's to Jay, and Grande's to Dalton Gomez - and went public with one another.
Grande spoke out about tabloid rumours at the time and denied any infidelity occurred, saying of Slater to Vanity Fair: "There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him."
And while Jay initially opted not to speak out on her divorce - which has now been finalised - she last week bared all in an explosive piece for The Cut titled, 'How Does My Divorce Make You Feel?', where she dropped a number of bombshells.
Jay, a clinical psychologist in perinatal mental health and child development, began by recounting: "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 later mused on her penchant for a private life away from social media, and how that measured up to Slater's profession as an actor.
She said: "My partner was on a different path, in which social media and exposure were not impediments but rather necessities.
"We puzzled through this predicament ... It was a tenuous balance — my profession, which requires privacy, and his, which is measured in applause — but it worked well while life was unfolding according to our plans."
Jay also opened up about the difficult birth of their son.
She wrote: "When my baby was first placed on my chest, still tethered to me by his umbilical cord, I sobbed with relief. We had done it. He had arrived.
"I survived preeclampsia, a life-threatening birth complication, and finally, our family was whole.
"Consumed by the magic and mundanity of new motherhood, I didn’t understand the growing distance between us."
Accepting that her life had been thrust into the spotlight, Jay mused: "I work diligently on my private project of accepting the sudden public downfall of my marriage."
She went on: "This, I tell myself, is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide. Slowly but surely, I have come to believe that in the absence of the life I planned with my high-school sweetheart, a lifetime of sweetness is waiting for me and my child."
Heartbreakingly, Jay appears to reference the release of Wicked, where Grande and Slater are rumoured to have begun their romance on set.
"Days with my son are sunny. Days when I can’t escape the promotion of a movie associated with the saddest days of my life are darker," she admitted.
Jay then says she can inform others, 'with personal and professional authority,' that 'some of what you loved most about your partner was actually your own goodness reflected back to you'.
