Ariana Grande Shares Her Late Nonna’s Hilarious Reaction to Brother Frankie’s Coming Out

Ariana Grande has revealed her late Italian Nonna’s hilarious reaction when her brother Frankie came out as gay.

The singer and actress, 32,confessed that the news came as a happy moment but a surprise for her Nonna, Majorie, as Frankie has previously dated women.

Majorie passed away aged 99 in June 2025, ‘peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones’.

And when asked by Amy Poehler on the Good Hang podcast to tell a story about her Nonna, Ariana confessed her favourite story was her brother announcing his sexuality.

She confessed that when he approached the subject with his grandparent, the first thought that came to her mind was to ask if he had ever seen a pair of breasts.

Channelling her roots, imitating her Nonna’s New York Italian accent, she said: ‘My favourite Nonna story is Frankie coming out to her.

‘My brother is Frankie and he is gay. And he came out to us, and my first question was ”do you have a boyfriend? Who is he? I want to meet him”

‘But Nonna was just trying to figure it out. You know, very accepting, very loving, very celebratory, but she was just trying to figure it out because she couldn’t bellieve it.

‘And in her mind, he had plenty of girlfriends and whatever. So she goes ”Frankie, have you seen a pair of breasts”

‘And he was like ”yeah, Nonna I have seen breasts” and she goes, ”didn’t do anything for you?”

‘He was like ”no, no Nonna, no” and she was like ”well, you’re gay”. He was like ”I wasn’t asking for you to tell me I’m gay”. She was like ”I just want to know if you know what you mean.”

To announce Majorie’s passing, Ariana took to Instagram to announce the heartbreaking news.

She also shared a post from her mother, Joan, which read: ‘We are devastated to share that the beloved matriarch of our family has passed away.

‘Marjorie (Nonna) Grande passed peacefully in her home and was surrounded by her family and loved ones for every moment of her last few weeks.

‘We thank you for your love, support and for respecting our privacy as we grieve and celebrate her beautiful, extraordinary life.’

The singer shared a close bond with her family’s beloved matriarch, who she credited with getting her started in showbusiness.

The God Is a Woman hitmaker’s grandmother famously encouraged her to audition for the lead role in a Florida-based production of the musical Annie.

This early encouragement led Ariana to land the lead role in Annie and fostered her passion for performing.

Nonna frequently accompanied Ariana to award shows and red carpet events, including the VMAs and the American Music Awards.

Marjorie even broke the record as the oldest person to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for her contribution to Ariana’s song, Ordinary Things, released last year.

Marjorie can be heard on the track’s outro reminiscing about her late husband, Frank, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 90.

The Ordinary Things track is the final one on her 13-song album, with Nonna closing out the entire album with her thoughts on Ariana’s late grandfather.

‘And when he’d come home, and I’d see him / When he first gets off that train / It was like God almighty arrived / It was like seeing daylight,’ Nonna said in the song.

‘I mean, I could’ve packed up and left a million times, you know? / It’s not that we never fought, you can overcome that, you know?’ she added.

Nonna concluded with some sage advice, adding, ‘It is very easy, and as I told her / Never go to bed without kissin’ goodnight / That’s the worst thing to do, don’t ever, ever do that / And if you can’t, and if you don’t feel comfortable doing it / You’re in the wrong place, get out.’