Ariana Grande has sparked dating rumours after yet another lyric change involving her ex-boyfriend, Ricky Alvarez, while performing on stage during her tour.
ICYMI, Ariana — who dated Ricky, her former back-up dancer, for around a year back in 2015 — has been consistently mentioning the past romance during performances for her ongoing eternal sunshine tour, which kicked off last month.
Ricky’s name predictably comes up whenever Ariana performs “thank u, next”, her 2018 hit single which famously name-dropped past exes including Pete Davidson, Mac Miller, Big Sean and Ricky.
The original lyric about Ricky reads, “Wrote some songs about Ricky, now I listen and laugh.”
While Ariana has kept the lyrics about other exes unchanged on her tour, she has chosen to slightly alter the Ricky lines during at least two live performances of “thank u, next”.
The first came during a show in Austin, which Ricky attended. In that performance, Ariana sang the changed lyric, “Wrote some songs about Ricky, I know he’s still got my back.”
Ricky’s attendance to the very show where Ariana changed the lyrics was enough to send tongues wagging at the time. But speculation has only intensified after a more recent tour stop in Brooklyn this week, where she again revisited the Ricky line.
“Wrote some songs about Ricky, we always find our way back,” the pop star sang.
Ariana Grande changes Ricky’s lyric during “thank u next” at the ‘eternal sunshine’ tour in Brooklyn:
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 14, 2026
“Wrote some songs about Ricky, we always find our way back” pic.twitter.com/0lOlbpyJzm
Naturally, the changed lyrics have spawned much chatter about whether the pair have rekindled their relationship, with one fan describing Ariana’s new line as a “soft launch” on X and another outright declaring: “They are officially back together OMG.”
Only adding to the speculation was the fact that Ricky and Ariana were spotted together in both June and July, reportedly enjoying a meal for the first outing and going grocery shopping for the second.
Despite all the hullaballo, neither party has confirmed the rekindled romance rumours, so it remains pure fan-fic at this point.
Ariana and Ricky have kept on good terms since their 2016 split, having jokingly traded words about the “thank u, next” lyric upon its 2018 release, before being spotted together early the following year.
Ariana split from her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater after almost three years of dating last month.
Lead images: TikTok and Instagram
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