Ariana Grande intends to “take a step back from visibility” once her Eternal Sunshine tour concludes, and has pulled out of the West End debut she had been preparing for.
The 33-year-old singer, songwriter and Oscar-nominated actress is finishing the North American leg of the tour and begins a 10-date run at London’s O2 Arena later this month. Her representative has confirmed she will withdraw from public appearances once those shows finish on 1 September.
“Ariana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the ‘Eternal Sunshine’ tour,” the representative told People. “She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.”
A source close to Grande, also quoted by People, stressed that she is in good health. “She performs a very physical show, and there is a lot of athleticism involved,” they said. “She performs healthily and successfully at a very high level night after night.”
The West End production loses its lead
The break rules Grande out of the coming West End revival of Sunday in the Park with George, Stephen Sondheim’s acclaimed 1984 musical, in which she had been due to appear opposite her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey. The production, drawn from Georges Seurat’s painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, was scheduled to open next year.
Commentary that intensified with the new album
The decision follows a fresh wave of public discussion about Grande’s body and appearance, which grew louder online after the release of the video for “Petal,” the title track of the album she put out last Friday, 31 July.
She has addressed remarks about her appearance and health before, and has spoken openly about her mental health in the years since the Manchester Arena bombing at her concert in May 2017, in which a suicide bomber killed 22 people.
The US leg wraps on 6 August. The London residency opens on 15 August, and those sold-out dates run through to 1 September.
