Will Ariana Grande Help Her Hairspray Live! BFF Maddie Baillio Score Her Cast Crush?

There’s nobody more devoted to Tracy Turnblad than her gum-chewing friend Penny Pingleton and now it looks like Hairspray Live! stars Maddie Baillio and Ariana Grande are taking that BFF bond offscreen.

Fresh face Baillio, who was plucked out of Marymount Manhattan College to play Turnblad in the December 7 TV event, told Broadway.com that the two have grown close. “She’s playing my best friend on the show, but she’s also been such an amazing friend in real life,” Baillio gushed, adding that Grande might even be helping her land a man! “She’s been my wing man. I have a crush on someone in the cast right now and she’s helping out with that!”

Grande, who kicked off her career on Broadway in Jason Robert Brown’s 13 at the age of 15, has been a happy presence on set for Baillio. “I was doing ‘Can’t Stop the Beat’ yesterday and Ariana was watching and she just had the biggest smile on her face,” she said. “That’s so cool because she’s one of the biggest pop stars in the world. The fact that she loves theater makes me so happy. She said this is her home and that she’s never been so happy in her life!”

Watch more of our interviews with the stars of Hairspray Live! below.