Ariana Grande Surprised Her Entire London Arena With A Wicked Reunion Nobody Saw Coming
Ariana Grande was in the middle of the second night of her 10-show run at London's O2 Arena on August 16, 2026, wrapping up the encore of her Eternal Sunshine Tour, when Cynthia Erivo walked on stage and the crowd immediately lost its collective mind. Erivo had mentioned publicly that she planned to attend one of Grande's London shows. She had not mentioned she was planning to sing. Both women dressed in white for the moment, standing on a stage set designed to look like a cross-section of a moss-covered house, a deliberate nod to the world they had shared together in the Wicked films. They performed For Good, the song that closes the relationship between Glinda and Elphaba, the two characters they played as Oscar-nominated performances in Jon M. Chu's film adaptations. As Grande sang the pivotal line, Erivo put her hand to her chest and said, into a live microphone that the whole arena heard: oh my God. The two then launched into their Get Happy and Happy Days Are Here Again medley, another number they had performed together at the Wicked: One Wonderful Night television special in November 2025, and embraced in a hug at the end as the O2 Arena kept going.
The reunion carried a particular weight given what came shortly after: Grande's representative confirmed that she will be taking a step back from public life after the tour concludes on September 1, stepping away from visibility after sustained scrutiny about her appearance and health. Her planned appearance in a London West End revival of Sunday in the Park With George alongside Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey has been cancelled as part of that decision. The London tour dates are being filmed for an upcoming concert special. Cynthia Erivo, who told Variety in May that her close relationship with Grande was no performance, chose a good night to prove it: she came to a show her friend was giving in the city where Erivo grew up, and instead of watching from the audience she got on stage and sang. It was the last surprise of an encore the crowd was not expecting to get better. It did.
