Ariana Grande knows how to keep moving on, even when she stumbles.
The “God Is a Woman” singer, 25, gave her breakup anthem, “Thank U, Next,” a live debut in a performance inspired by The First Wives Club on Wednesday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
As Grande entertained the crowd, she lost and regained her footing while stepping down from a chair. “Oh my god,” she said before launching right back into the song. A moment later, she slipped in a laugh as she crooned the empowering lyric, ” ‘Cause her name is Ari / And I’m so good with that.”
Grande and her backup performers, Victoria Monet and Tayla Parx, channeled the 1996 movie starring Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton in all-white outfits. They performed in front of white tables laden with flowers and a faux cake, just like the beloved film’s last scene in which the women sing “You Don’t Own Me.” Grande, Money and Parx even emulated most of the movie’s choreography.
![[ent-hotlink id= 18434 href= https://people.com/tag/ariana-grande/ title= Ariana Grande ] and The First Wives Club](https://peopledotcom.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/first-wives.jpg "[ent-hotlink id=\"18434\" href=\"https://people.com/tag/ariana-grande/\" title=\"Ariana Grande\"] and The First Wives Club")
“First wives club 2018,” Grande wrote on Instagram.
“In this moment of division, something everyone can agree on… @ArianaGrande looks beautiful in white,” DeGeneres tweeted, earning a “love u” response from Grande.
Grande concluded the performance by running up the stairs that led through the audience. “She’s gone! She left,” Ellen DeGeneres said.
“We were supposed to come down?” Grande asked upon returning. “I thought we were supposed to exit. Oh my bad, I thought we were supposed to exit at the top. My bad.”
“It’s totally fine. We’re happy that you came back,” DeGeneres replied.
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In “Thank U, Next,” Grande reviews her past romances with dancer Ricky Alvarez, rapper Big Sean, comedian Pete Davidson and musician Mac Miller, who died on Sept. 7 at age 26. Grande dropped the song on Saturday, weeks after her October split from her former fiancé Davidson.
“Thought I’d end up with Sean / But he wasn’t a match / Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh / Even almost got married / And for Pete, I’m so thankful / Wish I could say ‘Thank you’ to Malcolm / ‘Cause he was an angel,” she sings in the tune.
“Ariana is doing well,” her brother Frankie Grande told Entertainment Tonight in October. “She’s working really hard, getting prepped for tour … and another album. Like, it’s too much! Lots of stuff is going on.”
