Would it shock you to learn that Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s affair began well before they separated from their spouses? LOL. Of course it did. Ari’s people did the most to claim that Ari and Ethan only started “dating” when they were separated from their spouses, Dalton Gomez and Lilly Jay. In Ari’s case, it might even be true, although there’s a growing body of evidence to suggest that Dalton was still in the picture when Ari began screwing around with Ethan. Meanwhile, Ethan absolutely blindsided Lilly Jay with his affair and divorce filing. Now the Mail is running an exclusive with details about Ethan and Ari’s “sloppy” affair and their lies about when they started up:

Ariana Grande and her boyfriend Ethan Slater went on ‘multiple double dates’ with their respective spouses even while carrying on their own romance, an insider has revealed – as images and video show the pair looking incredibly intimate, months before their relationship was made public. The couple’s surprise romance was revealed to the world just a few weeks ago – days after it was announced that Ariana, 30, had split from Dalton Gomez, her husband of just two years.

However, a source has now alleged that Ariana and Ethan, 31 – who recently filed for divorce from wife Lilly Jay, with whom he has an 11-month-old baby – were involved romantically for months before the world found out about their relationship, having grown close while on the set of their upcoming movie. Furthermore, the insider says that the pair were so open with their romance during filming that the majority of the Wicked cast were aware that they were in a relationship.

‘They were sloppy on set,’ the insider shared. ‘They were seen being all over each other while he was still supposedly happily married to Lilly. They were seen making out at a pub in Hampstead, and they were all over each other at Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar party [in March].’

Social media video posted from that party – which took place on March 27 – shows Ariana and Ethan looking very intimate while preparing to take a photo with their fellow Wicked co-stars, while other images snapped on the set of the movie capture them heading towards the trailers together, where the source alleges they spent time away from prying eyes.

However, even as these images and videos were being captured, the source further alleges that Ariana and Ethan went on ‘multiple’ double dates with Dalton and Lilly whenever they visited their spouses on the set.

‘Ariana and Dalton went on double dates with Ethan and Lilly several times – and they were seen out by cast members,’ the source said. ‘Lilly and Ethan also met Ariana’s family together, including her mom and her brother.’

A source close to Ariana and Ethan has previously claimed that the singer ‘hung out’ with Lilly and her newborn baby multiple times before her romance with her co-star was revealed – and even told those around her how much she ‘wanted a baby one day’ after bonding with Lilly and Ethan’s.

Shortly after her last visit to London, Lilly learned that her husband was dating Ariana. They allegedly tried to fix their broken marriage for a short time after Lilly learned of his feelings for Ariana, to no avail.

‘There was a period when they were all going to try and work on their marriages and put the whole thing behind them,’ the source said. ‘She thought they were happy. But that did not work out [because Ariana and Ethan] kept the affair going despite [that].’ The insider said that Ethan then blindsided his wife by filing for divorce, insisting that the decision to officially end the marriage was made entirely by the actor. ‘Lilly did not file for divorce from Ethan, he filed for divorce from her,’ they continued.

[From The Daily Mail]

Page Six had several stories with other sources (or the same sources) confirming all of this too – that Ethan and Lilly went on double-dates with Ariana and Dalton, that Ari and Ethan’s affair was pretty much conducted publicly for months before Ari’s people confirmed it two weeks ago. I get the feeling that Ariana just operates that way, like she doesn’t give a f–k who notices that she’s having affairs or carrying on with married men. It’s very “Miranda Lambert before she married that cop.” Miranda Lambert had salad-tossing drama, Ariana had donut-licking drama. Anyway, despite the fact that Ethan is apparently still in New York dealing with his family drama, all of these stories have the feel of Lilly Jay continuing to brief the tabloids. Good for her, truly. I love that she isn’t going away quietly.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Instagram.