Ariana Grande posts video of kiss with Ricky Ălvarez after tour ends in London
Ariana Grande marked the end of The Eternal Sunshine Tour with a personal behind-the-scenes video montage, and the moment that attracted the most attention was a brief clip in which she kisses Ricky Ălvarez during a rehearsal. The video was posted on September 4, several days after the final concert at London's O2 Arena, and shows a series of moments from the stage, rehearsals and travel. According to a Page Six report, the kiss was filmed while Ălvarez was photographing Grande from the edge of the stage, after which she moved closer to him and kissed him. With the post, the singer offered one of the most direct public glimpses into their renewed relationship since they began appearing together again during the summer. In the accompanying message, she thanked the audience for an experience that, as she said, meant more to her than she could express in words, emphasizing how important the entire tour had been to her.
The clip comes at a time when Grande and Ălvarez's relationship has once again become a public topic, almost ten years after their first breakup. In July, People, citing a source close to the couple, reported that they had rekindled their romantic relationship but were taking it slowly and without rushing. During August, Grande included several photos with Ălvarez in an Instagram post, which People described as a public confirmation of their renewed relationship on social media. The new video after the end of the tour goes a step further because their relationship is no longer merely suggested through photographs or interpretations of concert details: the kiss is part of an official montage that Grande herself chose as a memory of the completed tour. Still, publicly sharing an intimate moment does not automatically confirm an engagement, wedding or other specific plans, about which there has so far been no official statement.
Kiss from rehearsal became the central detail of the tour video
According to Page Six, the black-and-white montage was posted after the final concert and was conceived as a retrospective of the entire tour. In one of the shots, Grande is onstage during a rehearsal while Ălvarez is below her with a camera; she leans down toward him and the two kiss. That detail resonated especially strongly because Ălvarez is shown not only as a partner accompanying the tour, but also as someone involved in her working environment, where he had already played an important role in the past. Their connection, in fact, began precisely in a professional context, while Ălvarez was working as a dancer on her team. Today, People describes him as a photographer and creative professional who, after his dance career, continued working on visual and directing projects.
The structure of the post itself is also important for understanding why a few seconds of privacy attracted so much attention. Grande did not post a separate romantic video or make a special statement about the relationship alongside the clip; she incorporated the kiss among memories of performances, rehearsals and the people who shaped the tour. In this way, her relationship with Ălvarez becomes part of the broader story of a period that has just ended, rather than a separate media announcement intended solely to confirm the relationship. Such a context leaves less room for claiming that the singer announced any specific next step, but it clearly shows that she is no longer hiding Ălvarez from the public portrayal of her everyday life. After months of rumors, concert allusions and photos together, the kiss clip represents one of the clearest signs of their closeness so far.
Finale at the O2 Arena and the lyric that changed the tone of the song
The relationship received additional attention on September 1 at the final concert of the tour in London. The official O2 Arena website confirms that Grande performed ten concerts there between August 15 and September 1, bringing The Eternal Sunshine Tour to a close. The Associated Press states that the entire tour included 41 performances in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, while the London run was its final segment. It was also her return to a major concert tour after a multi-year break following the Sweetener World Tour, giving the London finale additional significance within her career. People also reported that the 41 concerts in ten cities attracted more than 630,000 attendees.
It was on the final London night that Grande once again changed part of the lyrics to "thank u, next" in which she mentions Ricky. Instead of the original wording that looks back on their former relationship from a distance, she sang: "I'm tryna make him my last". It is only a few words, but their meaning is significantly different from the original because the former partner from the song is now portrayed as someone with whom the singer wants to stay. People noted that the audience reacted loudly to the change and that Grande had altered the same part of the song several times during the tour. Such changes are not an official engagement announcement or proof of a particular plan, but combined with their public appearances and the new kiss video, they explain why the couple's relationship is increasingly being interpreted as more serious than it seemed at the beginning of the summer.
Changes to that lyric did not begin in London. Billboard reported that during a concert in Brooklyn on July 13, Grande sang a new version suggesting that she and Ălvarez always find their way back to each other. Before that, at a birthday concert in Austin on June 26, she changed the same section to emphasize that Ălvarez still has her back, while at another performance she made yet another, more humorous variation. This gradual changing of the familiar lyric turned the 2018 song into a kind of concert commentary on their current relationship. The final London version therefore resonated more strongly: it came on the last night of the tour, after their relationship had already become more public.
From their relationship in 2015 and 2016 to reconnecting a decade later
Grande and Ălvarez were first together during 2015 and 2016. People states that they met through her concert team, where Ălvarez was a dancer, and the public often saw them together at the time during the Honeymoon tour period. After the breakup, they did not completely disappear from each other's lives. According to the same source, they remained friends, and that long-standing connection became an important part of the story when they grew close again in 2026. Media attention began intensifying in late June, when they were seen together in Austin, Texas, where Ălvarez attended one of her concerts.
On July 14, People reported that they were romantically involved again, with a source noting that they did not want to rush the development of the relationship. The source described Ălvarez as someone Grande trusts and feels relaxed around, and the outlet also stated that he spent part of the summer with her and her family and accompanied part of the tour. That continuity distinguishes this story from a typical sudden reunion between former partners: according to the available information, their contact did not completely disappear even during the years when they were not a couple. This does not mean that they were romantically involved throughout the entire decade, but rather that their friendly and professional connection remained strong enough for their relationship to develop again in 2026.
The next important moment came on August 12, when Grande included Ălvarez in a series of photos on Instagram. People described the post as a "soft launch" of the renewed relationship: the shots were not classic couple portraits, but Ălvarez was tagged, and he later shared one of the photos on his own profile. This gave the speculation a firmer basis, although Grande did not issue a separate statement about the status of the relationship. A few weeks later, they were also photographed together in London during the final part of the tour. The montage featuring the kiss now rounds off that process of publicly revealing the relationship with a much more direct image.
"thank u, next" now carries a different personal context
The special symbolism of the entire story comes from the fact that Ălvarez has been mentioned for years in one of Ariana Grande's best-known songs. "thank u, next", released in 2018, was created as a reflection on past relationships and experiences from which the singer, according to the song's concept, learned different lessons. Ricky is presented in the original version as part of the past, with a light and self-ironic tone. When a performer changes that exact lyric years later, the audience naturally reads the change through current events, especially when the former partner has reappeared in the singer's private and professional environment.
Still, it is important to distinguish a concert gesture from a formal statement. Media headlines after the London concert often linked the final lyric change to the possibility of a long-term future for the couple, but neither Grande nor Ălvarez has publicly confirmed an engagement or plans to marry. The most firmly established facts for now are that they are back together according to reports by People and other outlets, that they began appearing alongside each other during the summer, that Grande included their relationship in her own Instagram posts, and that she repeatedly adjusted the lyric mentioning him onstage. The new video adds another clear sign of closeness, but it does not provide a basis for conclusions that go beyond what they themselves have shown or what reliable sources have confirmed.
That distinction is especially important when following the private lives of major music stars, where a few seconds of footage or a single lyric change is often turned into broad conclusions about the future of a relationship. In this case, there are visible signs that the relationship is more serious and public than it was at the beginning of the summer, but its pace and future plans remain their private matter. That is precisely why it is most accurate to view the kiss clip as confirmation of closeness and as a personal detail from the closing stage of the tour, rather than as a hidden engagement announcement. Grande herself decided to include the moment in a retrospective of a period she described as exceptionally important, which gives it emotional weight without any additional assumptions.
End of the tour opens a new chapter for Grande
The kiss with Ălvarez was also posted at a broader moment of change for the singer. The Associated Press and People reported that after the end of the tour, Grande announced that she would step back from some public obligations and reduce her public presence in order to take a break after an intense period. This was not presented as a permanent withdrawal from music, but as a reduction in public appearances and activities after the tour. The final concert in London was therefore not only the last night of a concert schedule, but also a transition toward a quieter phase in which her private life could be less exposed to daily media attention. At the same time, according to People, she is expected to remain involved in promoting already completed professional projects.
The Eternal Sunshine Tour had a special place in that transition. The O2 Arena states that the tour marked her first major return to the stage in six years, after a period in which she devoted substantial attention to film work. London became the final stop of the tour with ten sold-out nights according to the venue's official schedule, with the last one taking place on September 1. A few days later, instead of a conventional promotional post, Grande shared a black-and-white overview of memories, thanked the audience and included Ălvarez among those memories. In doing so, a private moment from rehearsal became part of the public epilogue of the tour.
For their relationship, that may be the most important change compared with the beginning of the summer: it is no longer only about photographs taken by others, anonymous sources or speculation prompted by lyrics. Grande herself has shown Ălvarez more and more openly in her own posts, from the August photographs to the current kiss video. At the same time, both have made relatively few direct statements about the relationship, so the public still pieces together most of the story from their appearances and her artistic gestures. After the end of the tour in London, however, one thing is clear: Ricky Ălvarez is once again an important part of Ariana Grande's personal world, and she consciously included him in one of her most important posts about the end of the tour.
Sources:
- Page Six - report on the tour video montage, the kiss filmed during rehearsal and the conclusion of 41 concerts (link)
- People - report on the change to the "thank u, next" lyric at the final concert in London and earlier concert variations (link)
- People - report on Ariana Grande and Ricky Ălvarez's renewed relationship and statements that they are developing the relationship gradually (link)
- People - report on the August Instagram post in which Grande publicly showed her renewed relationship with Ălvarez (link)
- People - profile of Ricky Ălvarez with information about his work as a dancer, photographer and creative professional, as well as the history of his relationship with Grande (link)
- People - information on 41 performances, ten cities and more than 630,000 tour attendees (link)
- Billboard Canada - report on the lyric change in Brooklyn and earlier variations during the tour (link)
- The O2 - official schedule of ten London concerts from August 15 to September 1, 2026, and information about the tour (link)
- Associated Press - report on the conclusion of The Eternal Sunshine Tour in London, the 41 concerts and the announced reduction in public activities after the tour (link)