Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s Romance Is Not Linked to SpongeBob Voice Actor, Jokes His Wife

Tom Kenny has voiced the iconic character in Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants, while Slater played the character in the Broadway musical adaptation of the show

No, Ariana Grande isn’t romancing that cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants who lives in a pineapple under the sea.

The wife of Tom Kenny, the voice actor behind the beloved animated character, took to Instagram to clarify that the “Thank U, Next” singer was not dating her husband after news broke that Grande was in a relationship with her Wicked movie costar Ethan Slater, who played SpongeBob in the 2017 Broadway musical adaptation of the series.

“Hi everyone, I’m married to Tom Kenny (who voices SpongeBob on the TV show),” voice actress Jill Talley wrote on Instagram, commenting on a post from The Cut that asked, "Is Ariana Grande dating SpongeBob now?”

The post brought some confusion as to which SpongeBob Grande was dating, with the cartoon character immediately coming to mind for some people in the comments. 

"He is not dating Ariana Grande," Talley said, of Kenny. “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 added. “P.S. as for me and Tom Kenny — we are celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary today ❤️.”

Related: Tom Kenny, the Voice Behind SpongeBob, on His 12-Piece Band the Hi-Seas: 'It's Not a Kids' Show'

Kenny, 61, has voiced the iconic titular character in Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants for over 20 years, including its movie spin-offs like Sponge on the Run. He previously told PEOPLE in 2020 that he doesn’t get sick of people asking him to do the SpongeBob voice as it’s something that is meaningful to him.

“I love the character, and after two decades of frying impressionable young minds, SpongeBob has been very impactful in folks’ lives. It’s always fun for the cast to watch people’s reactions when we do the voices ‘live’, or when we insert a fan’s name into a famous line from the show,” Kenny said.

Related: Ariana Grande Is Dating Her 'Wicked' Costar Ethan Slater After Dalton Gomez Split: Sources

On Thursday, sources confirmed to PEOPLE that Grande and Slater were dating after her split from husband Dalton Gomez. “Ariana and Dalton separated in January," one source said. "She and Ethan recently began dating."

Slater is also "separated" from his wife, Lilly Jay, the insider told PEOPLE. The 31-year-old and Jay met in high school ,began dating in 2012 and married in November 2018. They share a baby son, whom they welcomed in August 2022.

Reps for both stars have not returned multiple requests for comment.

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Grande is set to play Glinda in Universal’s film adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical, while Slater, will play Boq, the love interest of Elphaba’s sister Nessarose.

The stage musical is being split into two parts for its on-screen adaptation, the first — called Wicked: Part One — set to be released in late 2024.

Filming has currently paused due to the Screen Actors Guild strike that began this month. But director Jon M. Chu said this week that he doesn't anticipate the movie's release to be affected by the strike.

"We were only a few days away from being done so we were SO close," he wrote online. "It’s been very painful to put a halt to it all, but we will be back! And we will finish properly strong when the time is right."

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