All About Frankie Grande’s Husband, Hale Leon

THE RUNDOWN

• Frankie and Hale Grande have been married since May 4, 2022.
• Hale (née Leon) isn’t in the spotlight as much compared to Frankie, a singer and theater performer.
• Hale spoke about his decision to take Frankie’s last name and why it was so meaningful to him.

Frankie and Hale Grande’s love story is pretty cinematic. After meeting in 2019, the pair married on May 4, 2022, in an intimate, Star Wars–themed wedding at the Grande family home in Boca Raton, Florida. (The “May the Fourth” date was no coincidence.) They exchanged vows in custom Dolce & Gabbana tuxedos, and Frankie’s mom, Joan, officiated the union. Guests, including Frankie’s pop star sister, Ariana, dressed for the cosmic occasion, which the couple described as “the most beautiful ceremony” in a joint Instagram post at the time.

While Frankie—who released his debut album, Hotel Rock Bottom, in June—is often in the public eye as a performer and online personality, Hale is relatively private. Here’s everything to know about Hale, including his personal interests, causes he cares about, and why he decided to take Frankie’s last name after they married.

Hale has acting and modeling experience, but he’s especially active as a Twitch streamer. He’s also a vegan and chess enthusiast, per his Instagram bio and YouTube channel.

In a 2022 joint interview with Frankie in Brides magazine, Hale opened up about his upbringing and journey with self-acceptance. “Growing up on Long Island, being gay was seen as wrong. It was such a taboo. I was just isolated. I ran to L.A. and figured out there’s so many more people like me,” he told the publication.

But he “went back in the closet two years later” because his Catholic roots were “pressuring me and had me feeling like it was not right,” he said.

Eventually, Hale was able to fully embrace his sexuality. “I had a long journey with years of self-discovery,” he continued. “Once I finally figured it all out, it was at the time that gay marriage was legal. While my journey was hard, so many people had it much harder.”

Frankie noted, “I’m 10 years older than Hale, so I was there when we were fighting for gay marriage.” He said he didn’t know if marriage would “be in my cards,” but he wanted to push for equal rights regardless. “This relationship was the first time I even thought about marriage, and I’m very grateful that it was legal,” Frankie added.

Their meet-cute happened in 2019 at Oil Can Harry’s, a now-closed gay line-dancing bar in L.A.’s Studio City neighborhood. Frankie told Brides that he spotted Hale dancing onstage and asked if they could dance together. After Hale hesitated, calling himself a “nerd,” Frankie started to “prove my nerdiness to him,” the Rocky Horror Show actor recalled.

“I showed them all my tattoos—my Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Jurassic Park, and all that,” Frankie continued. “Hale said, ‘Okay, maybe you are a nerd. Do you like games?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I play Nintendo Switch and Super Smash Brothers.’ He asked, ‘What’s your main?’ And I said, ‘Zelda!’ and he said, ‘I love Zelda.’ After that, Hale said, ‘I’ll dance with you.’” Their romance picked up shortly after.

In June 2021, Frankie surprised Hale with a proposal at Dreamscape, a virtual-reality venue in Los Angeles. At the end of their immersive experience, virtual fireworks spelled out “Will you marry me?”

“It was such a perfect, beautiful moment,” Frankie told People. “Hale was completely surprised, and we both started crying tears of joy. I have been working on proposing to him in virtual reality for over a year, and it was absolutely breathtaking for us both.”

The pair also posted about their engagement news on Instagram. “I am so happy my best friend said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me! Playing games and making me laugh forever! Speaking of games… I proposed IN VIRTUAL REALITY! HE FREAKED OUT!” Frankie captioned a gallery of snapshots from their photo shoot with People. “What a way to celebrate #pride 🌈❤️💍.”

Hale gushed about the “unreal” VR proposal in an Instagram post on his page, writing, “My life going forward, the memories I now have and know I will create, I just can’t even breathe. Thank you my fiancé. I will always be right by your side. Count on that.”

Once they wed, Hale (née Leon) took Frankie’s last name, Grande, which was a meaningful decision for both of them. In the interview with Brides, Hale said, “I told him I wanted to have the same last name. That was important to me because I’ve always enjoyed that tradition of having that unification. It feels like the final step. Grande is a beautiful name, and my last name had much less meaning, so it was an easy decision for me.”

Frankie added that his last name is “deeply connected to my family and my heritage,” so it was “beautiful” that Hale wanted to share that with him.

Originally, Hale and Frankie had planned a Disney World wedding. But after Florida passed its “Don’t Say Gay” bill—and after many Disney fans called out the company for being complicit—the couple shifted their plans. “I remember being on an emotional rollercoaster with Frankie, wondering whether or not we can get married there or if they would do the right thing,” Hale told Brides. They ultimately decided to celebrate their love in an intimate setting at the Grande family’s Florida home.

Hale has also spoken about perceptions of queerness and how they have evolved. “There’s no specific definition of what defines a queer person anymore,” he said in the Brides interview. “I’m a calm video gamer. Frankie is so boisterous and flamboyant, which I love. Our relationship can exemplify that being gay is such a tiny facet of everything else that we are as humans.” He added, “A queer person can literally be anybody, be with anyone, and do anything. It’s that simple now, and there’s no need for these crazy assumptions.”

Over the years, the couple has attended a handful of public events, including the opening night of Frankie’s Broadway show Rock of Ages in 2020 and the NYC premiere of Wicked in 2024. They usually mark their red carpet appearances with sweet PDA.

They also often post about their adventures and day-to-day life together.

In February 2025, Frankie opened up to People about his marriage journey with Hale. “I’m still learning a lot about him in a beautiful way, and we’re becoming even more intimate the longer that we are married, which is, I guess, unexpected,” he said. “It’s really nice that we continue to learn more and more about each other and explore and find new things to be in love with.”