Ariana Grande kissed Ricky Alvarez on the forehead in a photograph she shared on November 2. It was one of two pictures of the couple in her New York City Instagram carousel. The day before, they’d been watching the city’s marathon when a stranger approached them with a pen and an oversized envelope.
Content creator Ella Schweiger was collecting messages for runners to read after they finished. Grande agreed to write one. By the time it reached a runner named Ellie, the singer had already played a part in getting her through the race.
Grande and Alvarez met on her Honeymoon Tour in 2015, when he was one of her backup dancers. They dated for about a year before splitting in July 2016. This summer, he was in the audience at her Brooklyn concert, dancing to “Imperfect for You.”
Grande went public with their reunion on August 12. One photo showed them in white shirts and dark jeans with their faces out of the frame. In a blurry mirror shot, she had her arms around him while he held the camera.
Alvarez Steps Out From Behind the Camera in Grande’s New Photos
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This time, Grande led with a clear view of both their faces. The first photo shows them embracing outdoors, looking into each other’s eyes against a backdrop of greenery.
Alvarez, who also works as a photographer, had been on the other side of the lens in a video Grande shared from tour rehearsals. She was onstage in an empty arena while he took pictures from below. She paused at the edge of the stage and leaned down to kiss him, as PEOPLE reported.
Grande gave Alvarez a different place in “Thank U, Next,” too. The 2018 recording looks back on the songs she wrote about him as an ex. At the final London show on September 1, she sang, “I’m tryna make him my last.”
A Marathon Finisher Drew a Note Signed “Ari + Ricky”
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Schweiger’s video for her series Ella’s Envelope shows Grande holding an iced coffee on the sidelines in Manhattan on November 1, her face partly covered by a mask. Grande took the pen, wrote “You did it!” and drew three hearts before handing the slip of paper back.
After the race, Schweiger offered Ellie a choice of notes. Still wrapped in an orange race blanket, the runner reached into the envelope. She pulled out the one signed with both Grande’s and Alvarez’s names and read it aloud. Only then did Schweiger tell her who had written it.
“Are you serious?!” Ellie asked in the video, as Upworthy reported. At mile 24, with just over two miles left to run, she’d been listening to Grande’s “The Way.” She told Schweiger, “It got me through!”