Ariana Grande has signaled at a possible reconciliation with her ex-boyfriend, Ricky Alvarez, by mentioning him in changed "Thank U, Next" lyrics while performing the song live.
Alvarez, who dated the three-time Grammy winner from 2015 to 2016, was in attendance on Friday (June 26) at the Austin, Texas date of Grande's Eternal Sunshine Tour at Moody Center, which also marked Grande’s 33rd birthday.
Sources have told TMZ that Grande and Alvarez are friends, despite the singer and actor recently breaking up with her Wicked co-star, Ethan Slater, after three years of dating.
The original lyrics on the 2019 song's first verse go: "Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh." However, during her performance, Grande changed them to: "Wrote some songs about Ricky / I know he's still got my back."
Grande had also revised the lyric at her first Austin show on Wednesday (June 24), where she sang: "Wrote some songs about Ricky / And they still kinda slap," per InStyle.
Earlier this week, the friends were at a local Austin restaurant, according to Page Six.
Alverez was originally a member of her dance crew before later contributing to her creative work as a photographer and co-director. R&B singer-songwriter Victoria Monét told Billboard in 2016 that Grande's song "Moonlight" was written about Alverez.
"That's what Ricky called her one night. I think it was after their first kiss," she told the publication. "He waited to kiss her for a long time, and she was really impressed."
"He’s such a gentleman, and the song is a great little bookmark of the start of their relationship," Monét added.
The reunion comes just weeks after Grande's split from Slater was confirmed on June 8. A source said the entertainers were "still friends and very supportive of one another” although they had been "broken up for several months."
