'Wicked curse' explained as new sequel leaves fans seriously divided
It's been nearly a week since the long-awaited sequel to Wicked was released in cinemas.
While the musical-fantasy flick, titled Wicked: For Good, has received a mixed bag of reviews, it's clear the dedicated fandom is staying strong as they champion the star-studded cast as they celebrate their final hurrah to the characters they've been playing for years now.
The likes of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo take centre stage in the film, playing Elphaba and Glinda the Good Witch, respectively. Alongside the dynamic duo, there's also Jonathan Bailey, who plays Prince Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible and Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard - just to name a handful.
Now, while the cast seemed to absolutely love working together on both films, there's some speculation floating about online all to do with the so-called 'Wicked curse' - but what on earth does this actually mean and what is it referring to?
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Well, in short, a whole load of stuff went wrong during the filming and aftermath of both Wicked and Wicked: For Good, so let's get into it...
Cynthia losing her voice
Cynthia said her voice was 'still missing in action' two days after Wicked: For Good's New York City Premiere earlier this month (17 November).
"She's still missing in action, but she's there," she told Jimmy Fallon in a quiet voice at the top of her appearance on The Tonight Show to promote the sequel a few weeks back (19 November). "She's kind of sexy."
Ariana's COVID diagnosis
Ariana casually mentioned her COVID diagnosis after posting an Instagram pic of herself on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon alongside the caption: "Moments before Covid."
Her diagnosis meant she missed out on some of the New York promo appearances.
Both Ariana and Cynthia have had COVID before, when they were filming.
Ethan and Ariana
Back in 2023, Ethan hit headlines for an alleged affair with his co-star Ariana, with the pair now officially dating.
The 'Thank U Next' singer split from now-ex-husband Dalton Gomez in early 2023, while Slater separated from his wife Lilly Jay, with whom he'd been romantically involved since they were teenagers, before their wedding in 2018 and welcoming their first child together in 2022.
Both Ariana and Ethan, who have been romantically linked since July 2023 when they officially confirmed their relationship, previously opened up about their new relationship and the rumours of cheating and infidelity which surrounded it. Such speculation has been refuted by both Ariana and Ethan that any cheating took place.
Both parties announced they had split from their spouses within a few days of each other.
Ariana's PTSD
The Manchester Arena bombing, or Manchester Arena attack, occurred following a concert by Ariana Grande back in 2017.
The terrorist bombing left 22 dead and over 1,000 injured.
A source recently told the Daily Mail that the singer 'has been triggered and her PTSD is back after she was ambushed by a crazed man while walking the red carpet' earlier this month.
Fans will no doubt have seen the videos taken at the Singapore premiere when Cynthia and an army of bodyguards were forced to step in as the man jumped a barrier and grabbed hold of Ariana.
"A Daily Mail investigation confirmed that this was a coordinated and planned attack on Grande by a repeat offender who has targeted multiple celebrities in the past, including singers Katy Perry and the Weeknd," the outlet reports.
"Ariana has been trying to soothe herself because her mind automatically jumps to the darkest possibilities," the insider said. "When someone suddenly approaches or charges at her, it triggers her... almost like PTSD, as her mind immediately goes to the worst-case scenario."
Following the horrific Manchester bombing, the insider claimed that Ariana 'wanted to quit everything and become a hermit', adding that 'she still has panic attacks'.
Cynthia Erivo's 'erasure' scandal
Last year, a fan-edited poster for the initial Wicked movie came under fire when star Cynthia slammed it as the 'most offensive thing' she’d seen.
"None of this is funny," she wrote on social media as she shared the image.
"None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us.
"The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION. I am a real-life human being, who chose to look right down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer...
"Because, without words we communicate with our eyes."
Touching on the airbrushing of her eyes - as well as Glinda actress Ariana's mouth and nose - she added: "Our poster is an homage not an imitation, to edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is just deeply hurtful."
Ariana and Cynthia's uncontrollable tears
Throughout the Wicked press tour, it's clear that Ariana and Cynthia have been feeling very teary
Earlier this month, Cynthia revealed why she and her co-star have broken down in tears on so many occasions while promoting the film.
Speaking on the Heart Breakfast show, Amanda Holden told Cynthia: "Every interview I've read Cynthia of you and Ariana, it just says that you end up in tears all the time."
Cynthia responded: "We do! And I think it's because people have come in with such energy, and they come in, their responses, their emotional responses come into the room with us, it's the first time we've been able to talk about it, so we're both reliving and rehashing all the things we've been through and the journey we've been on.
"We can't help it, we get very emotional about it."
Amanda added: "Yeah, I don't blame you. You went through COVID, you went through strikes, there were all kinds of obstacles to overcome to make this movie."
Cynthia then went on to say: "In fact, the very last song was filmed after the strike, so we were meant to finish, and we couldn't meet, ended up stopping and six months later finished with that."
Speaking on the Sentimental Men podcast, Ariana agreed: "Me, everyone, we all cried every day. Everyone cried. It was really beautiful."
The cast's co-dependency
During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show, Ariana revealed that the cast has become codependent on one another.
Host Fallon asked the actress if it was fun to reunite with her cast as filming for both movies wrapped up in January 2024, to which she replied: "Yeah, a lot of people are asking, 'Are you going to miss each other?'
"I'm like, 'I don't think we are going to have to miss each other at all'. We've become quite codependent, all of us."
Topics: Ariana Grande, Celebrity, Explained, TV And Film, Wicked, Social Media
Rhiannon Ingle