I Just Found Out That Ariana Grande And Jonathan Bailey Originally Had A Kissing Scene In Wicked, But It Was Cut: ‘You Simply Couldn’t Handle It’

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I’m thrilled with how Wicked: For Good turned out, and it seems critics and audiences agree – the movie is a hit! It’s always interesting to hear about changes made during filming, and the co-writer recently shared that a very intense scene between Ariana Grande’s Glinda and Jonathan Bailey‘s Fiyero was ultimately removed. Be warned – spoilers follow!

The musical For Good shows Glinda and Fiyero becoming engaged, but their connection isn’t necessarily a love match. In the film version, Glinda and Madame Morrible publicly announce the engagement to Fiyero, much to his surprise. According to Dana Fox, who spoke with Deadline, here’s the story behind it:

Okay, so there was this really sweet scene between Fiyero and Glinda – they actually kissed! It was gorgeous, super romantic, but honestly, a little too believable. The problem was, seeing that connection made it way harder to buy that he ultimately chose Elphaba, and it messed with the impact of them running off together. It just felt too real, like they genuinely had feelings for each other, and it complicated the story we were trying to tell.

Jonathan Bailey, recently named People’s Sexiest Man Alive, has a natural charisma that makes it easy to understand why he excels in romantic scenes. Interestingly, a kiss between his character and Glinda was originally filmed during their engagement scene, but the filmmakers ultimately decided to cut it. As Fox explained the decision…

He definitely cares about Glinda, but his feelings are different than romantic love. The scene felt too sweet and risked making the audience upset if he didn’t end up with her. It was a smart decision to remove it because it was just too cute and would have created a strong negative reaction if the story went in a different direction, potentially turning viewers against the characters.

The filmmakers of Wicked chose to show a romance only between Fiyero and Elphaba, specifically during the song “As Long As You Love Me.” They felt showing Fiyero kissing both Glinda and Elphaba might have made the audience dislike his character.

This is particularly true considering how they’ve explained what happened with the scene. According to Dana Fox, removing it was a good decision that ultimately improved the film.

Initially, Glinda is upset when Fiyero leaves with Elphaba during their wedding. However, she eventually understands their love for each other and reconciles with Elphaba.

When Fiyero chooses Elphaba, the audience isn’t overly surprised or upset, as his connection with Glinda didn’t seem very strong to begin with. Their romance does face challenges, though, especially when Fiyero dramatically transforms into the Scarecrow (a process that took hours of makeup). Ultimately, he runs off with Elphaba, who everyone believes has died.

It’s natural to question whether Glinda truly believes her friends are gone. Director Jon M. Chu has a clear vision for what happened, but he encourages viewers to draw their own conclusions. Knowing what almost happened with the kiss will definitely make rewatching the “Thank Goodness” scene more interesting.

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2025-11-28 16:38