Ariana Grande sparks marriage speculation with lyric change at final O2 show

Ariana Grande hinted at a long future with boyfriend Ricky Alvarez during her emotional final night on stage in London.Having initially dated between 2015 and 2016, Grande, 33, rekindled her romance with her former backing dancer in June following her split from her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater.Alvarez, 33, is referenced by name in Grande’s 2018 song “Thank U, Next”, with Grande changing his lyric from “Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh” to “Wrote some songs about Ricky / We always find our way back” on her current Eternal Sunshine Tour.“Wrote some songs about Ricky / I’m tryna make him my last,” Grande sang, prompting excitable cheers from the crowd in clips shared online.While Grande and Alvarez split a decade ago, the pair remained in contact in the years that followed; following the release of “Thank U, Next”, Alvarez worked as a tour photographer and videographer on Grande’s tour the following year.Tuesday’s show marked the final date of Grande’s 41-show world tour, after which the singer will be stepping back from public life.Getty Images for MTVGrowing emotional as she spoke to the crowd, the former Nickelodeon star said: ”This has been such an extraordinary experience. Thank you for 10 beautiful London shows and for 41 incredible Eternal Sunshine tour shows.“This has been one of the most beautiful, extraordinary experiences of my life and I just wanna express my gratitude. “I’ll cherish this experience always – I have the best fans in the entire world and I always have. Thank you for being by my side.”Read MoreLast month, Grande’s representatives announced that she was taking a break from the public eye following “endless, ongoing public scrutiny”.While releasing music alongside having promoted the Wicked films for two years in a row, Grande has faced much speculation around her health and what online commenters have deemed her dramatic weight loss.As part of this removal from the public eye, it was announced that Grande will no longer star as intended in the Barbican’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Sunday in the Park with George.On Tuesday, the final day of Grande’s tour, her co-star Jonathan Bailey announced that he too was stepping back from the production.