The other day I wrote about rumors that Emma Watson and Tom Felton are dating. Fans started speculating about their relationship after Tom posted a picture teaching Emma to play the guitar. A source close to Emma clarified that the two were only good friends. So this story about Ariana Grande and Mickey Foster dating makes me chuckle because Ariana’s older brother, Frankie, is the one who claimed that they were dating (or so it seemed). Between the time that I started writing this story and then came back to finish it, Frankie shut it down.
Originally, Us reported that Frankie Grande happily told the magazine that his sister and the singer were dating:
“I love Mikey. I think he’s a really sweet guy. So talented. So kind and so caring,” the professional dancer, 36, gushed to Us Weekly and other reporters at the Game Changers premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday, September 4. “He’s a great guy.”
The proud older brother told Us he’s “excited to go spend quality time” with Ariana, 26, and Foster when he jets off to visit them on tour in a few weeks. Frankie went on to share details of the recent “double date” he had with his boyfriend, Hale Leon, and the newly minted couple.
“It was really fun,” the Big Brother alum shared. “Game night! Board games! So fun.”
The “Boyfriend” collaborators first sparked dating speculation in early August after they released the music video for their aforementioned song, which ended with them embracing in a steamy makeout session. In the days following, Ariana and Foster stepped out on multiple PDA-packed outings, including a sweet dinner date after the pop star’s headlining set at the Lollapalooza music festival.
Frankie then clarified his comments:
UPDATE: Frankie Grande clarified his “double date” comments to Us Weekly on Thursday, September 5. “Ariana and Mikey Foster are not in a relationship, she is single. and my comments about our recent hang as friends were not meant to be taken literally,” he explained to Us. “Hale and I were on a date, which is why I referred to it as a double-date when we had plans with them, without realizing what the term insinuated about THEIR relationship outside of my own. It was literally four people meeting up as friends, and I would never comment on something so personal about her life anyway.”
I’d thought it was funny that Frankie had spilled the beans on his sister’s private life, but also a bit strange, too, because if anyone is going to share that Ariana is dating someone, it should be Ariana. I initially assumed that if he’d said something it was with Ariana’s OK. Now, of course, he had to walk that back. Come on, Frankie. If your sister is a celebrity, you have to know that using a phrase like “double-date” to describe her and a friend going out with you and your boyfriend is going to be understood by lots of people to mean that they are dating, too. I am glad, though, that Frankie did say that he’d not actually reveal anything about Ariana’s private life. Mickey and Charles “Scootie” Anderson, the other half of Social House, are opening for Ariana on her tour, so that also explains, in part, why the two friends are spending a ton of time together. Of course, if they do start dating, everyone is going to say that Frankie was trying to cover up talking out of turn. Oh well.
The brother who was on Big Brother and will name drop his sister at any opportunity? Imagine having a fame thirsty sibling like this as a celebrity…yikes
I still don’t know why he’s a thing ….
Heads up guys! I believe his name is “Mikey.”
Yeah it’s Mikey not Mickey.