Friends forever! Kristin Chenoweth can’t wait to see longtime friend Ariana Grande once the coronavirus pandemic has calmed down.
“She’s my little nugget,” Chenoweth, 51, told Us Weekly exclusively on Thursday, June 25, while promoting her partnership with Town House crackers. “I love her so much.”
The Oklahoma native met Grande, 27, when the “Dangerous Woman” singer was only 9 and she came to watch Chenoweth in Wicked.
“Her Nana and mom brought her backstage and she goes, ‘I want to be you when I grow up.’ And I was like, you’re so little … she came up to my waist. I felt like Heidi Klum,” the Broadway star recalled. “And then we stayed in touch.”
During their first encounter, Chenoweth gave Grande a wand and told the Scream Queens alum to keep it because she said, “You’re a princess, you’re a queen and you sing like one.”
When the friends reunited to do Hairspray Live! together in 2016, the former Nickelodeon star brought the wand out, which made Chenoweth cry.
“I love her. I touched her more about life than music. Although we did talk about music a lot,” the Descendants star told Us. “We talked about music a lot, but we talk about like boys and this sucky thing that happened and I’m hungry for that, you know?”
Chenoweth is excited to reunite with Grande and their significant others post-quarantine.
“We did double before,” she explained. “As soon as it’s safe, we will [again]. Even if we have to socially, socially distance, um, quarantine, we’ll do it.”
In the meantime, Chenoweth has been spending quality time with her boyfriend Josh Bryant.
“He’s been, actually, a rock for me,” the Pushing Daises alum told Us. “I’ve had some loss during this time, which I think it’s important to talk about. I lost one of my best friends and he’s been there for me and he’s held my hand through that.”
Chenoweth added: “We are so silly. We are so uncool. And we’re just, we’re actually having as much fun as you can have.”
When the pressures of the pandemic get to be too much, however, Chenoweth has a solution — munching on Town House Dipper Crackers and her “Cheno-Worth It” Dip.
“I got my own dip and this amazing Dipper Cracker,” Chenoweth told Us about her Town House partnership, which combines their crackers and dip recipes for an easy dinner on nights when you “just can’t” be bothered.
“I like easy. I like where I can go [eat] in front of my TV [and] it’s done,” she explained. “[All I need is] my couch with my TV tray and my dipper. And that’s what I do here in quarantine.”
Chenoweth’s dip is a combination of a Greek yogurt and cheese with bacon and tomatoes added in. “I think we found something really special, but people can make it,” she said. “The point is, make it strong because these crackers don’t break. That is what quarantine is about for me. It’s just crazy.”
For a chance to get your own Town House Dip for Dinner Kit, featuring Chenoweth’s recipe, go to the actress’ social media accounts or click here.
With reporting by Marc Lupo
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