Frankie Grande has one word to describe his famous little sister, Ariana Grande, in 2019: fearless. The former Broadway star revealed exclusively to Us Weekly what he’s learned about his younger sibling as she’s overcome personal trials and tribulations in the last year.
“She’s my sister and she’s my best friend,” the Big Brother alum, 36, said of the pop star, 25, while discussing his iPhone cases with Fifth & Ninth on Wednesday, January 30. “You feel like you know everything about each other, but I guess what I learned is just how fearless she is. … Fearless. That’s awesome. Like this beautiful thing where it’s like, ‘I’m fearless in this moment.’”
Frankie also revealed who the Grammy nominee might get her superhuman strength from. “My mom. My grandma, my grandfather. We have a very strong, strong line of amazing people in the family. Very strong women,” he told Us. “My mother is a rock. She’s my rock, she’s Ariana’s rock, and she has been a huge example of how to get through some difficult situations with strength, dignity, her head held high. And, uh, she’s taught us how to do the exact same thing.”
The “Thank U, Next” singer ended her engagement to Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson in October 2018 after four months. The news came after the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller in September.
Ariana admitted that 2018 had been particularly difficult for her while accepting her award for Billboard’s Woman of the Year. “I want to say that I find it interesting that this has been one of, like, the best years of my career and, like, the worst of my life,” she said at the event in New York City on December 6.
A source told Us in January that the musician got by with a little help from her family, including Frankie, and friends. “She keeps her friends close and always has her friends around,” the source said. “That really helps her get out of dark times and sadness. That’s what really helps get her though it — that and family.”
The source continued: “After going through all that pain in 2018, it just doesn’t get easier. You don’t magically develop a better set of coping skills to deal with all those horrible, painful things that happened to her last year. She’s doing better and there is upward momentum. There are good and bad days, but it gets better.”
Watch the video above to find out what Frankie thinks is in store for his sister and himself both personally and professionally in 2019!
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