Rhianna Benson
Lilly Jay - ex-wife to Wicked actor Ethan Slater - has given her first headline-hitting interview since rumours alleged that he'd left her for his co-star Ariana Grande.
Now, speaking to The Cut amid the ongoing speculation, the mother-of-one - who shares a two-year-old son with the musical actor - has finally set the record straight on the matter.
Slater, 32, and his pop-star cast-mate Grande, 31, began dating publicly earlier this year, with the pair believed to have become close whilst filming the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway hit last year.
In the weeks prior to seemingly confirming their romance, the former Victorious actress confirmed her separation from now ex-husband Dalton Gomez, and Slater formally separated from his wife Jay.
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The latter had been together for 12 years, and had tied the knot in November 2018 before welcoming a child in August 2022.
After coming under severe criticism - with Grande being branded a 'home-wrecker' - Slater addressed the backlash in an October interview with GQ.
"I think there was something that was really difficult about things in your private life being commented on and looked at by the public," he said at the time.
"There were a lot of big changes in private lives that were really happening, so it's really hard to see people who don't know anything about what's happening commenting on it."
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As we say, however, Jay has now spoken to press on the public breakdown of her marriage for the very first time, revealing that she's attempting to use her role as a mother as a means of distracting her from her personal hell.
"Motherhood, I have learned, fills your time but not your mind," she began. "In the countless hours I spend rocking my son to sleep, pushing his stroller, marveling at his sweaty little hands grasping a crayon, I work diligently on my private project of accepting the sudden public downfall of my marriage."
Jay - who herself works as a clinical psychologist specializing in perinatal mental health and child development - continued: "This, I tell myself, is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide.
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"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."
Throughout the essay, a seemingly heartbroken Jay opted not to name Grande explicitly.
She did, however, hint that the 'Side To Side' singer's association with Slater through the star-studded movie may have contributed to the split.
"No one gets married thinking they’ll get divorced, in the same way we don’t board a plane expecting to crash," Jay added.
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"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."
"In this season of shock and mourning, over a year after the end of my marriage was made public, I deeply miss the life of invisibility I created for myself as a psychologist specialising in women’s mental health," she continued.
Jay sadly added that her divorce's connection to a huge name star has seemingly impacted her professional endeavours as well as her personal life, claiming her patients have 'remained silent'.
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"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."
Speaking about she and Slater's co-parenting schedule, she made sure to add: "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."