Ariana Grande "didn't understand" any part of her viral "holding space" interview.
The 31-year-old pop singer stars as Glinda in the film version of the musical 'Wicked' opposite Cynthia Erivo, and the pair were presented with the mysterious phrase in an interview with journalist Tracy Gilchrist when she tried to describe a fan reaction to the number 'Defying Gravity' and it has gone on to become a social media sensation because of its nonsensical nature.
Speaking alongside her co-star in a new interview, she told Variety: "I didn’t know what any part of it meant. I didn’t understand the first sentence, and then I definitely didn’t understand how you responded. And I just wanted to be there. Because I knew something big was happening, and I didn’t know how to be there."
In the original clip, Gilchrist remarked that "people are taking the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that and feeling power in that" and Cynthia - who plays the role of Elphaba in the unofficial prequel to 'The Wizard of Oz' - admitted that she was "surprised" at the comment, and was further confused when the journalist tried to justify her remarks by claiming that she would know because she works in "queer media".
She said: "I was surprised, because I had no idea. I hadn’t been looking that much. I honestly didn’t know what that meant — am I also in queer media, maybe? Work it, let's be there!"
During the now-famous clip, Ariana grabs Cynthia's finger as she becomes emotional and now the 'Into You' hitmaker has admitted that she didn't really know what else to do in that moment.
She said: "[I just thought] 'I’m going to grab this, because she looks like you might need something'. I don’t know what the tapping was about."
