Ariana Grande Finally Reveals Why She and Co-Star Cynthia Erivo Constantly 'Touch Each Other' as 'Wicked' Duo's Antics Are Branded 'Gross' By Critics
Ariana Grande has finally explained why she and co-star Cynthia Erivo are always touching each other.
Nov. 19 2025, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Ariana Grande has finally explained why she and Cynthia Erivo are always touching each other, after their "cringey" antics were blasted by critics, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The actress, 32, was quizzed about the pair's "touchy-feely" relationship with her Wicked: For Good co-star during a new podcast interview, and gave an intriguing response.
Grande Explains the Constant Touching
Grande claims she's channeling energy through her hands.
Grande shared she often channels energy through her hands and is "always holding a hand, always squeezing something” or reaching for something, usually whoever tends to be in the vicinity.
Critics have vented their disgust at the duo on social media as they continue to fawn over each other on the Wicked: For Good promo tour.
"Erivo's groping and, quite frankly, lascivious behavior around Ariana is just too strange and off-putting to allow these interviews to continue," one person raged.
Another added: "I think Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have a normal coworker relationship and the excessive amount of crying and touching is a result of a subconscious, unintentional effort to convince people (and themselves) that they have a special bond like Elphaba and Glinda.”
Critics Go Off on Pair's Behavior
The pair's 'touchy-feely' antics on the 'Wicked' promo tours have been dubbed 'gross' by critics.
A third chimed in: "I saw interviews during which Grande and Erivo looked like they were picking ticks off each other. Grossed me out to the point I won’t see the movie."
The two actresses have clearly bonded throughout their Wicked journey together, and the Eternal Sunshine singer says they've "worked hard to maintain" that bond. They even do regular check-ins when they're not together.
"We're both so busy, but do our best to stay connected in that way and to take care of each other so we can honor the project as much as humanly possible,” she shared.
Grande's displays of physical affection to 38-year-old Erivo, and vice versa, have sparked many a debate on social media.
The 'Wicked' co-stars have gone viral with their behavior toward each other.
Referencing the viral moment in November 2024 when she held Erivo's finger mid-interview and tapped it, she said, "I didn't even notice that was a thing about me until that thing happened."
One month after the headline-making finger grab, Grande broke her silence on it, saying, "(The journalist) said something that meant something to (Erivo), then it meant something totally different to (Erivo), and then (the journalist) tried to kind of get somewhere else.
"I remember in the moment asking myself, 'Am I OK? Did I not hear something?'"
Erivo previously opened up about her and Grande's tendency to touch during an interview in November 2024.
"Ari needs contact when there's emotion," she shared, adding, "She needs to be close, so I just be there with her for a second."
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Erivo told how Grande 'needs contact when there's emotion.'
Last week, Erivo jumped to the singer's defense when a fan rushed and grabbed the superstar at the movie's Singapore premiere, leaving the star traumatized.
RadarOnline.com revealed the incident caused Grande to up her security as she remains haunted by the terror attack at her Manchester concert in May 2017, which left 22 of her fans, many of them children, dead and thousands injured.
And incidents like last Thursday's, when a fan jumped the rails as she walked the "yellow carpet," are incredibly "triggering" for her.
An insider told The Daily Mail: "Ariana has been trying to soothe herself because her mind automatically jumps to the darkest possibilities.
"When someone suddenly approaches or charges at her, it triggers her... almost like PTSD, as her mind immediately goes to the worst-case scenario."
