The ex-wife of actor Ethan Slater has written about navigating the “sudden public downfall of my marriage” in the “shadow of my husband’s new relationship with a celebrity”.
Clinical psychologist Lilly Jay reflected on the end of her relationship with her “high-school sweetheart”, who moved on with his Wicked co-star Ariana Grande.
In an essay for The Cut magazine, she wrote: “As for me, days with my son are sunny.
“Days when I can’t escape the promotion of a movie associated with the saddest days of my life are darker.”
The doctor said she moved to England with Slater to “support his career” with their two-month-old baby while filming for the screen adaption took place.
“No one gets married thinking they’ll get divorced… but I really never thought I would get divorced,” she wrote.
“Especially not just after giving birth to my first child and especially not in the shadow of my husband’s new relationship with a celebrity.”
She said that while her partnership with Slater had changed, “our parenthood has not”.
“Both of us fiercely love our son 100 per cent of the time, regardless of how our parenting time is divided,” she wrote.
“In the countless hours I spend rocking my son to sleep, pushing his stroller, marveling at his sweaty little hands grasping a crayon, I work diligently on my private project of accepting the sudden public downfall of my marriage.
“This, I tell myself, is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide.
“Slowly but surely, I have come to believe that in the absence of the life I planned with my high-school sweetheart, a lifetime of sweetness is waiting for me and my child.”
US actor Slater, who plays Boq in the film, reportedly began dating Grande after filming began.
Grande recently snagged her first Golden Globe nomination for her role as Glinda in Wicked, while the film was shortlisted for best picture musical or comedy as well as a nod in the cinematic and box office achievement category.
