Frankie Grande and Ariana Grande are both famous celebrities with incredible gifts. With that much shared talent, it’s only natural for people to wonder if it’s in their DNA, but are the two really related?
Frankie Grande is the half-brother of Ariana Grande, born 10 years before Ariana, and they’re related through their mother, Joan Grande. Despite each having high-profile careers, the pair have an incredibly close bond and consider themselves to be best friends.
Read on to learn more about the siblings’ early lives, their separate careers, and their amazing relationship.
Growing Up
Frankie Grande was born on January 24, 1983 in New York City and spent the first 10 years of his life growing up in New Jersey. He then moved to Boca Raton, Florida with his mother, where his sister and best friend, Ariana, was born on June 26, 1993.
Frankie and Ariana have different fathers and are therefore half-siblings. Frankie’s father is Dr Victor Marchione, a pulmonologist, whilst Edward Butera is Ariana’s father, with whom she has had a strained relationship at times.
Edward and Joan split up when Ariana was nine or ten but Frankie and Grande grew up in a loving household with each other to lean upon, as well as their mother and loving grandparents.
Speaking openly about his family’s acceptance of his sexuality, Frankie said in an interview, “I came out to her (Ariana) when she was just 11 years old — and she said: “Great, when do I get to meet your boyfriend?” She was raised in a family where gay was not only accepted, it was celebrated.”
Frankie is clearly immensely proud of his family and said in an interview, “we’re a very supportive family and we have each other’s backs above anything else. It’s family first with the Grandes. We defend each other passionately”.
Careers
The siblings’ shared dream of growing up and being famous has undoubtedly come true, with each other’s support.
Frankie is an actor, dancer, singer, TV host and prolific YouTuber and started his career in the cast of ‘Mamma Mia!’ on Broadway, before performing as Franz in the musical ‘Rock of Ages’.
As a TV personality and YouTube sensation, Frankie has gained an immense following and appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016.
As for Ariana, she’s a global popstar and powerhouse who began her career on Nickelodeon. Her worldwide popularity is staggering and in 2019 she was named as one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world.
Speaking on the possibility of collaborations between the siblings, Frankie told ET, “We’re very much in our own lanes,” before adding, “we’re family and we do stuff all the time together, it just has to be right,”
Though the siblings are each focussed on their own projects, they did collaborate on a cover of ‘Seasons of Love’ in December 2018, which Frankie said was “beautiful”.
Watch the video below from Frankie’s YouTube channel to see the duo cover of one of their favorite songs, from the musical ‘RENT’.
Two Peas in A Pod
The siblings are extremely close, and constantly refer to each other as their best friend. Congratulating her brother on his sobriety in 2019, Ariana tweeted, “I think you’re a superhero and you make me v proud” to which Frankie replied, “I am so happy we have each other. We are so blessed. I am so grateful. U are my best friend”.
The elder Grande told Attitude Magazine, “She’s my best friend and probably the person who makes me proudest on this planet”. Providing some insight into their friendship he added, “she’s very chilled and I’m very crazy so we’re the perfect balance. She grounds me and I lift her up”.
It’s clear that Ariana and Frankie are more than just siblings, supporting each other every step of their way through their careers and lives, and that they’re each other’s biggest fans.