the same eight or nine people for fifteen years, most of them not famous, several of them in the videos you have already watched.
the short answer
the recurring names are doug middlebrook, alexa luria and courtney chipolone — none of whom are performers — along with liz gillies from her broadway and nickelodeon years and victoria monét, her longest-standing co-writer. most of them appear in the thank u, next video, which is the closest thing to a group photograph that exists.
the non-famous half
- doug middlebrook. the most visible of them, and the one people search for by name. not a performer; a friend who became recognisable purely by being in the frame for a decade.
- alexa luria. a friend since childhood in florida, and one of the very few people who predates all of it.
- courtney chipolone. likewise long-standing, likewise not in the industry.
the pattern is the point. at the level of fame she reached in 2019 the usual thing is a circle that turns over every eighteen months and consists largely of other famous people. hers did not turn over, and most of it has no professional relationship with her at all.
the working half
victoria monét is the significant one — they met in 2013, and the writing partnership that produced thank u, next, 7 rings, needy and nasa is also a fifteen-year friendship. monét has since won a grammy of her own, which changes the shape of it without ending it.
liz gillies is the other, from the 13 dressing room in 2008. and cynthia erivo is the newest addition of consequence, from four years on a film set — a working relationship that visibly became something else.
the thank u, next video as a document
this is the reason the circle is knowable at all. the video is staffed with the real people — friends in the background of the recreations, in the burn book, in the cheer squad — rather than with cast extras. it was made in late 2018, and almost everybody in it is still around.
the ones who are gone
the circle is stable but it is not unchanged. mac miller died in september 2018, three months before that video was shot, and he is in it. the loss is the largest single fact about this group of people and it is not something the page can route around.
questions people ask
who is ariana grande's best friend?
she has not named one. the longest-standing are liz gillies, from 2008, and alexa luria, from childhood in florida.
who is doug middlebrook?
a long-standing friend of grande's, not a performer, who became widely recognisable by appearing alongside her for over a decade.
who is in the thank u, next video?
much of her real circle, including liz gillies, alongside original cast members from the films being recreated.
is victoria monét a friend or a collaborator?
both. they met in 2013 and the writing partnership behind thank u, next and 7 rings runs alongside a friendship of the same length.
are ariana grande and cynthia erivo friends?
yes — a working relationship from four years on the wicked films that became a personal one, documented across both press tours and the 2026 london shows.