Ariana Grande has dropped her biggest hint yet that boyfriend Ricky Alvarez could be the man she plans to settle down with.
The 33-year-old pop superstar wrapped up her Eternal Sunshine tour at London’s O2 Arena with an emotional final performance, but found time amid the tears to make a rather significant change to one of her biggest hits.
While performing 2018 breakup anthem Thank U, Next, Ariana once again rewrote the lyric dedicated to her former flame-turned-current boyfriend Ricky.
The original song famously looks back at several of her previous relationships, with Ariana singing: ‘Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh.’
Eight years later, she’s apparently not laughing anymore.
For the final show, Ariana instead sang: ‘Wrote some songs about Ricky / I’m tryna make him my last.’
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Unsurprisingly, the declaration sent the O2 crowd into meltdown, while Ariana’s own backup dancers joined in with the excited reaction on stage.
Although Ariana hasn’t announced any plans to marry Ricky, the rather pointed choice of words immediately raised eyebrows – particularly given the increasingly romantic alterations she’s been making to the lyric throughout the tour.
It marks quite the turnaround for an ex who was once saddled with what Ariana herself admitted was the ‘worst line’ in Thank U, Next.
Ariana and Ricky, a former backup dancer, dated from 2015 to July 2016, largely keeping their romance out of the spotlight.
They remained on good terms after their split, and when Thank U, Next arrived two years later, Ricky was more than willing to poke fun at his lyrical cameo.
He shared a video of himself listening intently as the infamous line played before joking: ‘Nothing but gratitude. Thank you, next… (Those songs are fire tho… you’re welcome).’
Ariana subsequently reposted his response and admitted: ‘HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH IM SORRY U GOT THE WORST LINE.’
She added that it had been ‘meant v lovingly’.
Fast-forward to 2026 and the line has essentially become a running public update on their rekindled relationship.
During a June 24 show, Ariana sang: ‘Wrote some songs about Ricky / And they still kinda slap.’
Two days later, with Ricky supporting her at her Austin show around her birthday, the sentiment became considerably sweeter: ‘Wrote some songs about Ricky / I know he’s still got my back.’
Ricky was spotted in the VIP pit and appeared to react to the shout-out, turning to a friend before the pair exchanged a handshake. By the time the tour reached Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on July 13, Ariana had updated the line again.
‘Wrote some songs about Ricky / We always find our way back,’ she sang.
Now, with ‘I’m tryna make him my last’, the singer has taken the evolving lyric considerably further.
The pair’s reunion had been attracting attention for weeks before Ariana finally appeared to confirm their rekindled romance on social media.
In August, she included Ricky in an Instagram photo dump, sharing a series of understated pictures of them together.
One mirror selfie showed the pair in coordinating outfits with Ricky’s arm around Ariana’s shoulder as he held her hand.
Another blurry shot saw Ricky behind the camera while Ariana turned towards him.
It came after he had already been spotted happily dancing along during her Brooklyn concert as she performed Imperfect for You.
After spending the summer progressing from songs that ‘still kinda slap’, to always finding their way back to one another, to Ariana now declaring she wants to make him her ‘last’, she’s certainly given fans something to think about.
And if Thank U, Next has somehow transformed into the soundtrack to Ariana finding her happily ever after, that’s one hell of a plot twist.
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