Ariana Grande has told fans she will swap her trademark high heels for “cozy footwear” during the final two London shows of her Eternal Sunshine tour after suffering a “deep cut” to her foot.
The 33-year-old singer told fans on Monday that she would have to change her footwear for the final two concerts of her 10-night residency at London’s O2 Arena, as a “minor injury” had left her with a bandaged foot.
“My sweet petals. I wanted to let you know I will need to be in cozy footwear for this evening’s show (and possibly tomorrow’s) as I am bandaged up underneath, recovering from a minor injury,” she posted in a message posted to her Instagram Stories.
She clarified that the injury was “not a sprain or anything muscular but just a deep cut!”
“So when you see me tonight without my signature heels, or even possibly having a little trouble putting weight on that foot, that is why!” she added. “But please do not fret. On with the show and I am on the mend! I cannot wait to perform for you tonight and tomorrow (even if I am a few inches shorter than usual). I love you always.”
open image in galleryGrande, whose thigh-high boots have become almost as recognisable as her high ponytail, performed in a UGG-style boots in London, according to videos on social media.
Grande announced the Eternal Sunshine tour in August last year, and the 41-date run is her first major return to the stage since the Sweetener World Tour, which ended in 2019 after almost 100 shows.
In a review of her London show, The Independent’s Adam White wrote that the show’s staging is “confined to the burnt-out husk of a house, which is first engulfed in flames, then weeds, then flowers, while police car sirens and helicopter spotlights suggest violent state surveillance”.
“The show’s ethereal closer – in which Grande, her body slack and floating, is absorbed into a great, white light in the rafters of the O2 – is beautiful yet strangely morbid. Is this a symbolic… death? Whatever we’re meant to take from all of this, it undoubtedly feels like a goodbye,” he wrote.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
The singer and actor said last month that she will be taking a break from public life after the tour ends.
Hinting at the ongoing discourse around her health and body she’s faced in recent years, which intensified during her press tours for Wicked, the statement said: “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.”
open image in galleryDuring a show in Chicago in August, the “we can’t be friends” singer read from a prepared note, telling her fans: “The announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing. It is something that I had decided to plan.”
“No matter what noises exist out there, nothing will be able to distort my reality or be more real to me or not as real to me as this love that we share,” she said, adding that the tour is “one of the most healing, beautiful, correct and special experiences” of her life.
Grande will no longer be appearing in the West End revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, where she was due to star opposite her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey, and was set to open at London’s Barbican Centre next summer. It’s also believed Grande will not be promoting comedy sequel Focker-In-Law, due for release in November.
For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this article, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677. NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.uk or call 0845 838 2040