Ariana Grande walking out of Whole Foods carrying brown paper bags, with two men on either side pushing a shopping cart.
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Gossip

Ariana Grande Spent the Fourth of July with Her Ex-Boyfriend Ricky Alvarez

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Ariana Grande and Ricky Alvarez dated for about a year starting in 2015, when he was one of the dancers on her tour. They broke up in 2016, and unlike most Hollywood exes, they never turned it into a feud.

He’s stayed in her orbit ever since. Back in June, around her birthday, he turned up at her Eternal Sunshine tour stop in Austin. Over the July 4 weekend, photographers caught the two on a low-key grocery run at a Whole Foods in Boca Raton, Florida before they headed to her parents’ place for the holiday.

Sources who spoke to TMZ and Page Six said there’s nothing romantic between Ariana and Ricky this time around.

Ariana Grande shopping at Whole Foods in Florida on the Fourth of July
Ariana Grande picks up groceries at Whole Foods in Florida on July 4, 2026, before joining ex-boyfriend Ricky Alvarez at her parents’ home for the holiday. Photo by Backgrid.

Grande has been single since early June, when her breakup with Wicked co-star Ethan Slater was made public. That split was described as amicable too, and the two remain friends.

She name-checked Ricky in “thank u, next” back in 2018, the song about staying grateful for the people you used to love. By every account, he’s just an old friend who stuck around long enough to become family.

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About the author

Nadia Santiago

Nadia Santiago is a writer who lives between the clouds and the coastline, and writes about all the things your heart knows but your mouth can never quite say.