Tom Kenny and Ethan Slater Jim Spellman/WireImage
The internet can be a confusing place, as Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, discovered when “hilarious” and totally false rumors circulated last year that he was dating Ariana Grande.
The gossip started when news began emerging that Grande, 31, was dating someone who played SpongeBob. Of course, we now know that the someone in question was her boyfriend Ethan Slater, who played the iconic yellow sea sponge in the SpongeBob Broadway musical as opposed to Kenny, who voices the character on the long-running Nickelodeon show.
Grande and Slater, 32, met while shooting Wicked and have now been seriously dating for over a year — but for a crazy minute there, happily married Kenny, 62, was in the mix, following the singer’s split from husband Dalton Gomez.
Thankfully, Kenny saw the funny side, and has now spoken about how it all played out. “That was hilarious,” he told E! News earlier this week at an event to celebrate 25 years of the much-loved series. “It said ‘SpongeBob actor dating Ariana Grande.’ And people were like, ‘Wow, Tom Kenny, he’s a player.’ I was like ‘How did they find out?’. Ariana and I have been trying to keep a lid on this explosive secret. Ariana and I didn’t want Ethan to find out. Then he did and it was just a whole big ugly mess. But now we’re a throuple. So, it’s awesome.”
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater Elsa/Getty Images
At the time of the wild rumors, Jill Talley, Kenny’s wife of 27 years, ended up having to clear things up via Instagram — and showed some admirable patience for the bizarre situation. “Hi everyone, I’m married to Tom Kenny (who voices SpongeBob on the TV show),” she wrote. “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.” She also added that the “news” had broken as she and Kenny celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary. Awkward.
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s romance isn’t defying gravity, but it has turned heads from the start. Us Weekly confirmed in July 2023 that Wicked costars Grande and Slater were in a “fairly new” relationship following their respective breakups. News broke that same month that Grande and Dalton Gomez called it quits after two years […]
Kenny has also revealed that he knows Slater pretty well. “When he was training for the part, he came to Nickelodeon and we got to know him during the process and I saw the show when it was in previews in Chicago,” he said. “He just knew exactly what to do. SpongeBob was a part of his formative stages. So he had his own definitive take as far as SpongeBob’s physicality and all that, which he had to do live on a stage. That was crazy and he was able to do that because he’s a very athletic person. He can sing and he’s very athletic. I haven’t seen him in a bit, but I wish him and [Ariana] well.”
Phew, who knew an animated sponge fish’s love life could get so complicated?