HOW ARIANA SURVIVED
The pop sensation endured unthinkable trauma, but now — thanks to family, friends and a new guy — she’s finally happy again
Ariana Grande seemed to have it all. The gorgeous 25-year-old with the pipes of gold had just made history with her chart topper “Thank U, Next” — which had more streams in one week than any song in history — but as she took the stage to accept
Billboard’s Woman of the Year award in December, she made a confession: “This has been one of the best years of my career and the worst of my life.”
FALLING APART
She wasn’t exaggerating. After a tumultuous time that included the fatal overdose of her ex Mac Miller and a highly publicized relationship and split with Pete Davidson — in June, broke the news of their
Us engagement after only a few weeks of dating — Ariana was broken. “She questioned everything,” an insider says. “Her talent, her standing in the music industry, her mental health, which includes panic attacks and anxiety.” And it didn’t help that the public seemed happy to paint her as a villain — or worse: “It hurts when the haters say she’s jinxed, that she’s bad luck and responsible for Mac and Pete’s depression.”
Things first started to unravel for Ariana after 2017’s Manchester Arena attack in England, where, just after she had left the stage, a suicide bomber killed 22 people who had come to see her perform. “It was a horrible experience,” says the insider. “She still
has guilt and heavy feelings over it, which she says will stay with her forever.” Mac’s death in September — a huge wakeup call for her, according to a Grande family insider — followed by her failed romance with Pete became too much to bear. “It’s very hard to understand how someone so young could be coping with so much,” says another source.
Faced with overwhelming horror, perhaps Ariana had no place to go but up. Says an insider close to Ariana, “She’s taken all this negative energy and turned it into a positive by working her a** off. The girl never stops.” But it’s not only hard work — and weekly therapy sessions — that’s helped her. She’s also been leaning on friends, family and her ex Ricky Alvarez, whom she first dated in 2015 and 2016. The two were seen gallivanting around NYC over New Year’s, and though Ariana was quick to tweet that they’re just friends, the first insider says different:
“She’s excited to have him by her side. She trusts him.” In fact, the insider thinks the pop star, who’s said she’d like to be single for a while, will be coupled up in no time: “Don’t believe what she says about not dating in 2019. That’s a very tall order for Ariana. She falls hard when she loves someone.”
A BRAND-NEW DAY
Between her reconnection with Ricky and a recently announced headlining spot at April’s Coachella music festival — “the pinnacle of her career,” says another source — for once, Ariana’s professional and personal lives are thriving. “She feels like a warrior,” says the first insider. “Ariana’s suffered some horrible circumstances, but she’s come out on top; 2019 might turn out to be
her best year ever.”