Ariana Grande credits Cynthia Erivo for helping her heal

Ariana Grande has thanked her 'Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo for helping her to "heal" and take better care of herself.

The '7 Rings' hitmaker has praised her 'Wicked' co-star for inspiring her to stand up for herself and admitted she was in "deep need" of a friend like the 37-year-old actress.

Speaking to the New York Times newspaper, Ariana - who plays Glinda opposite Cynthia as Elphaba in the two-part musical - grew tearful as she said: “I feel really inspired by her fierce ability to be truthful and protect herself.

“Just by being around her, I have become more of an ally to myself when I used to do a lot of self-abandoning, and I really do credit that to our friendship...

“Through spending this time with her and also with a character that believes in herself, I feel like I’ve been able to heal certain parts of myself that were in deep need of having a friend like Cynthia and a friend like Glinda.”

The 31-year-old singer-and-actress has always been a people pleaser but is proud she's trying to change her stance and advocate for herself more.

She added: “Someone would punch me in the face and I’d say: ‘I’m sorry.’ I’m being silly, I’m doing a bit, but yeah, I had trouble listening to the voices that I knew were true for fear of being judged.

“And I think that it’s a really beautiful thing to overcome.”

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And Cynthia values Ariana's friendship just as much, admitting the 'Thank U, Next' singer had "changed [her] life" and helped guide her through a new level of fame.

She said: “I don’t know if she knows, but she’s definitely changed my life. I think it was one of the first times a person looked at me and just was happy with what was there.

"I would tell her about what I wanted for myself as a musician and she just believed it, I think more than I did. I don’t think it was up until I met her that I was like, ‘Oh, I think I can have what I want in this lifetime, and I can have it in my way.’

"[She] taught me to handle this crazy beast that is emerging success, because I’ve had a measure of it but this is new. She’s really held my hand all the way through it and wants it for me just as much as I want for myself”.

Both stars contracted COVID-19 during filming, with Ariana falling ill days before shooting her big musical number 'Popular' and Cynthia coming down with the virus before her anthemic performance of 'Defying Gravity'.

And the 'Widows' actress felt it was a sign to slow down so she could give the moment her all.

She said: “At first, it felt like an interruption, and then as it went on, it felt like the rest we needed.

“We’d worked ourselves to the bone.

“I was really grateful because the next thing that we had to do [until the strike happened] was ‘Defying Gravity,’ and it felt like the universe going: ‘You need your full strength to do this.’”