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While Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo share a close bond, Wicked's Glinda shared that their relationship is strictly platonic. Grande's latest comment about her and Erivo's relationship came after speculations that what she has with her co-star is more than friendship.
Addressing the conspiracy, Ariana Grande told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, "People think we're secretly married." She also addressed the viral explicit fan edits dedicated to the sapphic pairing of her character Glinda and Erivo's Elphaba, saying:
"I wish I could unsee some things. I mean, wow, I had a feeling, but I didn't know it would be on this scale or this graphic."
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Grande called the collection of risqué Glinda and Elphaba fan fiction and art on the internet "the Gelfie stuff" during the interview with the outlet.
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Speaking of close bonds, Ariana Grande has been open about the friendship she shares with Cynthia Erivo. She told Penn Badgley in the June 2024 episode of Podcrushed that she felt like she and Erivo were "destined to do this together." She said:
"To just feel like we somehow speak the same language and somehow we're destined to do this together and to feel safe every single day together and hold space."
As for Cynthia Erivo, she told CBS Sunday Morning on February 9, 2025, that the core of her friendship with Grande is "deep honesty." She also echoed Grande's sentiments, saying that when they first started the movie, they both "seemed to be of the same mind."
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's friendship sets the tone for Wicked
Secret marriage aside, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's real-life friendship helped set the tone for playing Glinda and Elphaba, respectively in Wicked. Their close bond is evident even in the eyes of their other co-stars in The Wizard of Oz prequel, including Marissa Bode, who plays Nessa Rose, Elpahaba's little sister.
Bode told E! News on November 13, 2025, that Grande and Erivo were "a force together" and they set the tone for everyone in the film, which she said, felt "familial." She added about the two's friendship:
"They have such a strong bond that I admire so much in the movie. These young girls are just figuring themselves out and translating into who they are as people—having a strong and loving bond to one another. It's really cool to see and it's really special."
As Bode puts it, friendships like what Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have "don't necessarily come every day." The Thank You, Next singer also told the outlet at the time that she and her Wicked co-star "did the work" to make sure that they take care of each other onscreen and offscreen. Erivo also said then:
"If we couldn't be there for each other as Cynthia and Ari, then how could we possibly be there for the characters Elphaba and Glinda?"
She added that the "crux" of their film, or at least in Elphaba and Glinda's story in the movie, is the relationship.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will be reprising their roles as Glinda and Elphaba in the second part of Wicked, officially titled Wicked: For Good, only in movie theaters starting November 21, 2025.
