Ariana Grande has completed her 10 shows at The O2 in London and shared an emotional and tearful tribute to fans, before she takes a step away from the public eye.

The shows at the London venue started last month, and came as part of the singer’s huge ‘Eternal Sunshine’ tour.

The latest run of dates kicked off in June with three shows in California, and have since seen her play 41 dates across the world. Grande confirmed that these would be her last live shows for a while, as she will be “taking a step back from visibility” due to “endless, ongoing public scrutiny”.

Now, she has wrapped up the last of her 10 dates at The O2 by thanking fans for their support and describing the tour as being “one of the most beautiful, extraordinary experiences of my life”.

Midway through her set, she told the crowd: “I just want to express my gratitude without sobbing completely. But really, thank you from the bottom of my heart, it’s been so special and I’ll cherish this experience always. I have the best fans in the entire world and I always have.”

She continued: “I love your outfits, I love your faces, I love seeing you, I love connecting with you in this way. Thank you for all of your effort for making this so special.

“All your messages and your costumes and your wardrobe and makeup is just so beautiful. I have loved every minute of this with you all and I just want to make sure I express how grateful I am. Thank you, and I love you so much.”

In her decision to take a step back from public life, Grande has also withdrawn from the upcoming West End revival of Sunday In The Park With George – in which she had been due to appear alongside her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey next summer– and she has also reportedly pulled out of the new season of American Horror Story.

She dropped her eighth studio album, ‘Petal’, last Friday on July 31, and is now set to appear alongside Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro in the upcoming Meet The Parents sequel Focker-In-Law, which will be released in November.

Soon after she announced her decision to withdraw from public life, Ariana Grande spoke out about the move again, telling fans that “multiple things can be true at the same time”.

“The announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing. It was something that I have decided. A plan that I had quietly made a long time ago. It was a decision that was made from a thoughtful and empowered place,” she said

“I heard that my fans were worried that negativity was ruining things for me, but I just have to say that could not be more the far opposite. This is not what that is. And I just want to be very, very clear: multiple things can be true at the same time.”

Reviewing the first night at The O2, NME awarded the show five stars, describing it as “brilliant business-as-usual before the singer takes a break”.

It added: “For much of the two-hour runtime, Grande’s setlist nimbly mixes gold-plated bops (2016’s dance-pop starburst ‘Into You’; 2019’s sleek R&B gem ‘Thank U, Next’) with vibey and sometimes less immediate deep cuts from ‘Eternal Sunshine’ and her latest album ‘Petal’, which dropped two weeks ago.

“The deftness of this blend really becomes apparent in the final section, when her new album’s clattering title track segues into the cathartic crowd-pleaser ‘We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)’. Grande’s overall message tonight seems to fall somewhere between ‘Thank U, Next’ and ‘Yes, And?’. She’s doing business as usual until she boxes up her stage costumes in September.”

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