Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson‘s relationship may have appeared to be whirlwind romance, but the fact of the matter is that the two actually have a longer history than most people know.
From meeting four years ago on SNL to splitting up after being engaged for four months, continue scrolling to discover the ups and downs of their relationship.
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September 2014: They (likely) meet on ‘Saturday Night Live’
Years before they embarked on a romantic relationship, Grande appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, the cast of which Davidson was just added to. In fact, at age 20, he was the first SNL cast member to be born in the 1990s, and one of the youngest cast members ever.
Grande, then 21, performed “Love Me Harder” on the show’s 40th season premiere, which Chris Pratt hosted.
March 2016: Grande returns to ‘SNL’
Grande and Davidson’s paths didn’t cross again until 2016, when Grande returned to SNL nearly two years later, this time to serve as a host. Although she was still in a relationship with rapper Mac Miller — and Davidson had just started dating writer and actor Cazzie David, Larry David’s daughter — Grande later admitted she had the “biggest crush” on Davidson at the time.
“We met on SNL like two-three years ago… and we never exchanged numbers or anything, we weren’t even like friends for the longest time; but I had the biggest crush on him in the whole world the whole time, like, forever!” Grande would later tell Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in August 2018.
“I left his writers room when we were writing skits for the show, and my tour manager was in the hallway, and I’m not a crushy person, I don’t have crushes on people — I don’t know, I’m not crushy — but I left and like jokingly said to my tour manager, I was like, ‘I’m going to marry him, hundred percent.’ I was like, ‘I’m literally marrying him!’”
May 10, 2018: Grande splits from Mac Miller
More than two years after that, Grande confirmed that she and Miller split after years of dating. She called him “one of my best friends in then whole world and favorite people on the planet” in a post on her Instagram Story. “I respect and adore him endlessly and am grateful to have him in my life in any form, at all time, regardless of how our relationship changes or what the universe holds for each of us!”
The two unfollowed each other on social media. Three months later, Miller would die from an apparent accidental drug overdose.
May 16, 2018: Davidson splits from Cazzie David
After Grande and Davidson were seen hanging out together at a Saturday Night Live afterparty, Davidson confirmed on May 16 that he and Cazzie David had split. “Very talented girl,” he said in an interview with Complex. “She’ll be great and she’ll be fine. Yeah, I think she’ll be okay.”
May 20, 2018: Grande and Davidson start dating
Rumors began circulating that Grande and Davidson, both newly single, were dating and spending all their time together — especially after they were seen hanging out together backstage at the Billboard Music awards on May 20. A source told PEOPLE that they “seemed very lovey-dovey” and that Davidson had “his arm around her. She seemed quite smitten.”
May 23, 2018: They get matching tattoos, start flirting publicly
Days later, fans began noticing that the allegedly “casual” couple had matching tattoos — small clouds on their fingers.
Meanwhile, Grande iconically clapped back at a fan who said she should have stayed with Miller following his DUI. Days later, Davidson refuted people’s claims that Grande shouldn’t date him because he suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder. “I been hearing a lot of ‘people with bpd can’t be in relationships’ talk,” he wrote. “I just wanna let you know that’s not true.”
That’s when the public flirting began; the two began leaving flirty comments on each others’ Instagram posts, and Davidson even shared a Harry Potter-themed confirmation of their relationship. “The chamber of secrets has been opened…” he captioned a photo of them wearing wizard’s robes. Grande commented, “u tryna slytherin (I’m deleting my account now).”
Cue more tattoos; Davidson got a “Dangerous Woman” bunny mask behind his ear and Grande’s initials on his thumb.
June 11, 2018: Engagement rumors circulate
Rumors began to circulate that the pair had gotten engaged after weeks of dating. Grande seemingly confirmed the engagement when she liked fans’ tweets about it. A few days later, Davidson posted a photo of the pair’s hands, legs and feet — including the $100,000 3.03-carat diamond ring he gave Grande sparkling on her ring finger.
June 19, 2018: They move in together
The two moved into a $16 million, five-bedroom apartment in New York City together. Grande also revealed that there’s a song called “Pete” on her upcoming album, Sweetener.
The next day, Davidson told Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon that their engagement is “f—ing lit, Jimmy. I feel like I won a contest.”
A few days later, fans noticed that Grande got the number 8418 tattooed on her foot — which was Davidson’s firefighter father’s badge number when he died in 9/11.
Sept. 18, 2018: They get a pet pig
After a summer full of flirting and making out in public (including at the MTV Video Music Awards) the two expanded their family when Grande got a pet pig, which the couple named Piggy Smallz. Davidson got a small tattoo of the pig.
About a month later, fans noticed that Davidson seemed to have covered up his “Dangerous Woman” tattoo with a large heart and a small A next to it, causing fans to wonder what was going on in their relationship.
Oct. 14, 2018: Grande and Davidson call off their engagement
Reports surfaced that the singer and comedian had officially called off their relationship and engagement. One source told PEOPLE that it was “too much, too soon,” while another said that Miller’s unexpected death in August significantly effected Grande, who reportedly broke it off with Davidson.
Days after the breakup news surfaced, Grande wrote on her Instagram Story that she’d be taking a break from social media.
“Time to say bye bye again to the internet for just a lil bit,” she wrote, in part. “It’s hard not to bump news n stuff that I’m not trying to see rn. It’s very sad and we’re all tryin very hard to keep going. love u. and thank u for bein here always.”
