LET’S GET PHYSICAL

Cynthia Erivo to Drew Barrymore: Ariana Grande Is ‘Just as Touchy’

The “Wicked” star said she had to get “used” to Ariana Grande touching her all the time.

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo is just fine with Drew Barrymore’s touchy-feeliness, she told the host in an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show that aired Tuesday, because her co-star Ariana Grande is just “as touchy.”

“I’m so touchy!” Barrymore told Erivo on the show, “People have to warn me—they’re like, ‘Back off a little bit,’” she said as she inquired, “Is it true that [Grande] is as touchy?”

Erivo replied that she’s “used to” Grande touching her all the time—to the point that she wonders if something is wrong when she’s not. “If it’s not, like, connected, I’m like, ‘What’s wrong? What’s happening? Where are you?’” she explained of the pair’s relationship following their work together on the Wizard of Oz spin-off musical. “We walk hand in hand very often. If we’re not walking hand in hand, we’ll find each other somewhere,” she continued.

Hearing another person talk about their enjoyment of platonic physical affection came as a relief to Barrymore, who’s faced criticism for getting too close for comfort with her guests.

She addressed that critique during the show’s September premiere, when she told viewers, “It’s so funny because consistently over the last five years, it’s that I’m too touchy and too close to people, which is so embarrassing,” she said then, adding to her viewers, “I don’t know if I can break the habit,” but “I hear you and I’ll do my best.”

Most often, that discomfort seems to be on the part of viewers, who meme and mock the host on social media with every physically close interview.

Barrymore’s famous guests rarely complain, with the exception of Martha Stewart, who physically pushed Barrymore off of her when she began rubbing her back. “You’re the wrong gender,” Stewart said during the awkward interaction last month.

Erivo was happy to “connect” with Barrymore as the two talked on the host’s couch, holding hands as they discussed Erivo’s work on Wicked and her relationship with Grande. “I think we get a bit afraid of physical connection,” Erivo said, and “I think we assume that physical connection can only be romantic.”

She further described how she and Grande communicate as friends in real-life through touch. “Sometimes you can’t say anything and you’re in a room and you’re like, it’s just a squeeze of a hand,” she said. “And that sometimes is how she and I communicate. We might be talking to someone, or I might need to communicate something to her and it’s just a squeeze of a hand or a pinch of the finger. Or a hug.”

In response, Barrymore, despite being pushed by Martha Stewart and critiqued for her physical affection with Oprah, still openly wished “we could all be more comfortable with physical touch.”

Eboni Boykin-PattersonEntertainment Reporter

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