See Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and Marissa Bode playing their characters in happier times in the deleted scene.

Wicked finally releases cut scene with shirtless Fiyero and Boq

See Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and Marissa Bode playing their characters in happier times in the deleted scene.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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December 26, 2025 4:25 p.m. ET

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Jonathan Bailey in 'Wicked'. Credit:

Universal Pictures

*Wicked* has finally released an infamous deleted scene featuring Jonathan Bailey and Ethan Slater both shirtless as Fiyero and Boq, and fans couldn't be happier.

After *Saturday Night Live* alum and *Wicked* cast member Bowen Yang teased on Trisha Paytas' podcast last year that there was a cut scene featuring the two fit actors "ripping their shirts off," audiences have been left wondering whatever happened to that footage. But they don't have to wonder any longer, because the scene in question has been unveiled online.

*Entertainment Tonight* shared the deleted montage scene from the first *Wicked* film on Friday, featuring Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), Glinda (Ariana Grande), Nessarose (Marissa Bode), Fiyero, and Boq skipping class at Shiz University to frolic in the woods together.

Ethan Slater and Marissa Bode in 'Wicked'.

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

The core group of characters play badminton, picnic, and make lovely memories, unaware that their time as friends is extremely limited. The scene also shows Boq picking up an axe, foreshadowing his fate in *Wicked: For Good*; a sweet kiss between Fiyero and Glinda; and Elphaba gifting Glinda a pair of black boots.

As for how the two men end up shirtless, Fiyero is the first to rip off his clothes after working up a sweat chopping wood, delighting Glinda and Elphaba, who are watching nearby. Not wanting to be shown up, Boq then tears off his own shirt, much to Nessarose's joy.

While Yang previously said the scene was cut for time, he also believed that it was because Slater was too "jacked" to make it believable that Boq was "insecure" next to a shirtless Fiyero.

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"Look, he is jacked under that shirt," Yang said on Paytas' podcast. "They shot a whole montage after 'Popular'… just to show the audience these are all friends now — Fiyero, Glinda, Elphaba, Nessa, and Boq — the five of them, running around in the fields, hanging out. There was one moment, and there were paparazzi shots of this because they had to shoot in, like, a park in London, of them hanging out, where it's Boq and Fiyero, Jonathan Bailey and Ethan Slater, ripping their shirts off. And so you were supposed to see Jonathan Bailey in his full shirtless glory, like flexing."

Yang went on to explain that Boq feels "insecure" in that moment, "wanting to look hot too," which is why he copies Fiyero.

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"But then it’s like, 'Wait, Ethan's got a great body,'" Yang said. "I might get in trouble for saying that. But the movie's out, it's fine."

Who can say if the deleted scene changed *Wicked* for the better, but we've all been changed for good now that it's been released. Watch the scene above.

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