For those of you who missed the memo, something huge happened last night at the MTV VMAs. Yes, a lot of great artists put on a lot of great performances, but the real showstopper, as far as I'm concerned, was Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson's award show debut. The two took on the pink carpet together and crushed it just like we all expected them to. And, according to an expert, Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson's VMAs body language confirms that they're just as in love as we thought they were.
Some backstory here: Grande and Davidson got engaged earlier this summer after dating for just a few short weeks. Grande had recently gotten out of her long-term relationship with Mac Miller and Davidson had gotten out of his with Cazzie David. While the two have been super public about their relationship on social media and in interviews, this was their first time making an appearance as a couple at an official public event.
So, naturally, we had to get a body language expert to tell us everything she could possibly decipher about their relationship based on the images.
"Wow, these two are hot and heavy," Traci Brown, body language expert and author of Persuasion Point, tells Elite Daily upon first seeing the images of them entering the award show. "It’s rare to see such PDA on the red carpet." She's not wrong. The pictures are super hot and heavy, and each one gives us another clue into their relationship.
In this picture Brown points to the way Grande is grabbing Davidson's neck. She explains that this is the pop star's way of "showing how in control she is."
"She’s showing how into him she is, eyes closed, body fully pressed into him and soaking in his energy," Brown explains. "And he’s smiling at the crowd. So there’s a bit of a mismatch in this moment." I mean, I don't think I can blame Davidson for this one. This is his first time on a red carpet with a star as huge as his wife-to-be. It would be pretty hard not to be distracted by the crowd.
In this photo, Brown exclaims, "She’s finally got his attention!" In this picture, the couple is totally in sync. "She’s pulling him in and he’s totally into it showing a big smile, but still not grabbing her too tight."
While this is exciting because it seems to be there first official public kiss, Brown warns that it's definitely not authentic. "It’s all for show," she says. "They are only in a half hug!"
Brown points to the way Grande is leading Davidson in this image to highlight the first point she made: Grande is the alpha in this relationship. "This relationship is going to be her way or no way at all," she says. "And he’s going along with it."
Yes, Grande is calling all of the shots in this relationship but that isn't to say that she isn't totally enamored by her husband-to-be. In fact, she recently admitted in an interview with Jimmy Fallon that she had a crush on Davidson long before she wound up engaged to him.
"We met on SNL like two, three years ago, whenever that was, and we never like, exchanged numbers or anything," Grande told the talk-show host. "We weren't even, like, friends for the longest time, but I had the biggest crush in the whole world on him the whole time, like forever. Like, my friends used to make fun of me for it and all that stuff."
And now, just a few short years later, the two are making googly love eyes at each other on the red carpet. Dreams really do come true!
