Ariana Grande May Be Dating SpongeBob Stage Actor, Not Voice Actor

Jill Talley and Tom Kenny attend the 2022 Children's & Family Emmys at Wilshire Ebell Theatre on December 11, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

(Image credit: Photo by Tommaso Boddi / Getty)

Wrong SpongeBob?

OK so, I don't quite know how to put this, but SpongeBob's wife has set the record straight: Her husband is NOT dating Ariana Grande (things I never thought I'd say).

Jill Talley, who is married to the voice actor for the SpongeBob cartoon, Tom Kenny, has had to clear confusion after The Cut posted a somewhat bewildering Instagram that read, "Is Ariana Grande Dating SpongeBob Now?"

While this is a hilarious headline, it had readers thinking Grande was dating Kenny, rather than the person she is in fact reportedly dating—Ethan Slater, who portrayed SpongeBob on stage in the Broadway musical version. See what happened there?

Anyway, Talley commented on the post (via TMZ), "Hi everyone, I'm married to Tom Kenny (who voices SpongeBob on the tv show). He is not dating Ariana Grande. I don't know if Ethan Slater (who played SpongeBob in the musical) is or isn't dating Ariana Grande. However, they're both adorable and I totally ship it. Just wanted to set the record straight. PS: as for me and Tom Kenny- we are celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary today." Talk about timing, LOL.

Anywho, rumors first started popping up that Grande was dating Slater (her Wicked costar) last week, amid reports that her marriage to Dalton Gomez was "headed for divorce," and that the two had apparently separated in January.

Meanwhile, Slater remains married to his high school sweetheart Lilly Jay, with whom he welcomed a baby boy earlier this year. While the timeline in which things happened is unclear, sources say Slater and Jay separated before Slater and Grande started dating.

With that in mind, one source told TMZ that Jay was "completely blindsided" by Slater's reported relationship with Grande. Another source said," It’s horrible. They were high school sweethearts. They have a baby! She’s a wreck." Ugh.

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Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.