It’s a little bit funny that people are in their feelings about Ariana Grande’s divorce, just because… like, it had “starter marriage” written all over it. Even more than that, I think Ariana got married out of boredom, to have something to do, to give it a try and see how being someone’s wife felt. It was also about the pandemic – Dalton and Ari’s romance blossomed in lockdown, and once the world started opening up, Ariana was like “oh right, I’ve lots of other stuff to do, I don’t have to stick around LA forever.” Speaking of:

Distance has gotten in the way for Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez. Following news of the couple’s separation, a source tells PEOPLE that with the singer and actress, 30, filming the Wicked adaptation in the U.K. for much of the year, absence did not make the heart grow fonder.

“She was happy in Los Angeles for a couple of years. She wanted to make a life there with Dalton,” the source tells PEOPLE exclusively on Monday. “He is super focused on his career and needs to live in Los Angeles,” the insider notes of Gomez’s job as a luxury real estate agent. “It’s definitely been an issue for them. Dalton’s career is demanding and he can’t leave Los Angeles often. So when [Grande] started filming Wicked in England, they were in for a long-distance marriage.”

Though the relationship eventually “didn’t work,” the insider says “Ari has nothing but kind words to say about Dalton. During their marriage, he was her No. 1 fan.”

[From People]

TMZ had a similar story too, so this is definitely the talking point from Ariana’s people: their marriage could not survive her work commitments, the marriage could not survive outside of the pandemic bubble. TMZ’s sources also say that the marriage basically couldn’t survive because of Ari’s fame.

Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez couldn’t make their marriage work in a post-Covid world … because their lives were vastly different. Sources connected to the former couple with direct knowledge tell TMZ, when Ariana and Dalton hooked up in 2020, they were everything to each other — company, romance, support … all of it.

When Covid restrictions lifted, we’re told their differences became alarmingly apparent. Dalton, an L.A. realtor, was taken aback by Ariana’s celebrity. He had not dealt with her schedule, the paparazzi and the various opportunities that took her out of L.A. We’re told Dalton would sometimes question why they needed to go around town with security, something that was a must for Ariana.

Their differences started to make the marriage unravel, and it was greatly exacerbated when she went to England last December to begin filming “Wicked.” By January, they were separated, but still on friendly terms. They began living separate lives until May, when they decided to take a shot at it again. That lasted 2 weeks before they both threw in the towel.

Fact is … we’re told Dalton has been dating over the last few months, which was fine with Ariana. Our sources say both Ariana and Dalton were “shocked” no one picked up on the separation until today, when TMZ broke the story they had gone their separate ways and were headed for divorce court.

[From TMZ]

This is similar to the first reports of Joe Alwyn and Taylor Swift’s split too – that their relationship couldn’t survive once Taylor decided that being quiet and lowkey was no longer what she wanted. Of course, we now know that Taylor had Matt Healy waiting in the wings. I wonder if that’s true of Ariana, who is (much like Taylor) known as a serial dater, someone who always likes to be in a relationship. I already said that I was getting a vibe from Ariana and Andrew Garfield at Wimbledon. Let’s wait and see! Garfield isn’t really her type, but sometimes people change. If it’s not Andrew, I guarantee that she’s already got someone hanging around, just waiting for the official rollout.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Ariana’s IG.