Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's bond is so strong they ended up on the floor at the Wicked premiere.

Everything you want to know about Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's Wicked relationship can be answered by where they chose to sit at the film's world premiere.

Wicked premiered in Sydney on Sunday, November 3 where a yellow brick road carpet sprang up in the Sydney CBD and people camped out on the streets for over 24 hours just to catch a glimpse of the cast celebrating a film that fans have been waiting more than 20 years for.

Directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights), Wicked is based on the Tony Award winning Broadway show of the same name, and follows Elphaba Thropp (who will eventually become the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda Upland (who goes on to become Glinda the Good Witch) through the untold story of these two unlikely friends. For the unfamiliar, it will make you view The Wizard of Oz in a whole new light.

Arriving at the premiere, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony-winning artist and Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba) wore an opulent, custom, black Louis Vuitton gown. She walked hand-in-hand with Grammy-winner Ariana Grande (Galinda), who was wearing a sweeping pink Vivienne Westwood gown that looked as if it could have been plucked from the original 1939 The Wizard of Oz film.

The pair joined their co-stars Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero), Ethan Slater (Boq), Marissa Bode (Nessarose), and Jeff Goldblum (the Wizard of Oz) on stage before the film began. Then, Erivo, Grande and the rest of the cast chose to remain in the packed theatre, as it was the first time they were able to watch the film with an audience.

Although Grande left the stage hand-in-hand with her partner Ethan Slater (a relationship neither star has outright confirmed, although they have started to acknowledge their love story in interviews and comments during this press tour) and entered the theatre still holding his hand, she and Erivo were surprised to find that they were not seated together. And this is how they wound up having the worst seats in the house at the otherwise glitzy affair.

Speaking to Mamamia the day after the premiere, the co-stars said they were extremely emotional while watching the film with a live audience for the first time, but that they did so while sitting on the floor of the cinema together in their couture gowns.

Listen to The Question That Changed Our Mind About The Wicked Cast on The Spill.

"We took all the moments to celebrate," Grande told Mamamia about what happened when they left the stage following a standing ovation.

"We really took it all in at that point, once we got to sit down and really see the movie," Erivo added.

"We actually sat on the floor together to watch the movie," Grande continued, before rushing to clarify that it wasn't because their full-skirted gowns wouldn't fit in the cinema chairs. "We were just too far apart."

"Way too far apart," Erivo confirmed.

"They had us sitting separately on the aisles and we just said, 'No no no, we need to be together,'" Grande explained, leaning over to hold Erivo's hand as she spoke.

Now, I have yet to meet a person who I like so much that I would be willing to spend two hours and 40 minutes sitting on a cinema floor just to be near them, even one as fancy as the State Theatre in Sydney.

But for co-stars Erivo and Grande, they've been hand-in-hand (literally, in this case) since they first met during the chemistry tests and auditions for Wicked — and it's a part of their story that they are eager to centre in conversations around the film.

When asked how they have 'changed each other for the better' (a lyric from the Wicked song For Good) Erivo said that her answer could not be boiled down to just one fact. Instead, she said: "It's about the way we've communicated, and the way we've held space for one another, the way we've been honest with each other.

"I think this is a relationship that's unlike any other because we've sort of managed to meet each other on a really even playing field," she continued. "We have made the choice to be good for one another and take care of one another."

"It's been so beautiful," Grande agreed. "I feel very spoiled by that, and very grateful because it just sets the tone for everything."

Wicked, the first chapter, will be released in Australian cinemas November 21. Wicked Part Two is scheduled to arrive in theatres on November 21, 2025.

Feature image: Universal Pictures Australia.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.