Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine world tour came to London on Saturday night, the first of ten shows at the O2 in which more than 200,000 people will watch their heroine perform.She came onstage to a chorus of rapturous roars; from my seat in the nosebleeds I saw a tiny pop star marching down the runway in front of the stage, motoring along in 7in Louboutin platform boots, her confidence and sense of purpose palpable, even from all the way up here.She opens the show with Yes, And? – an empowering anthem that encourages her fans to be their authentic selves. Everyone here knows it is also a riposte to the speculation and gossip about her appearance and personal life that she has endured over the years. It features the lines: ‘Don’t comment on my body, do not reply. Your business is yours and mine is mine.’Fair enough, one supposes. And, naturally, the crowd go absolutely nuts because this is a special moment.The song was a No 1 hit two years ago and marked Grande’s return to pop music after a three-year hiatus. Now she sings it again on the eve of another self-imposed break. The 33-year-old has just announced she is stepping back from the spotlight following yet more intense public scrutiny, specifically over her health and perceived weight issues.Concern grew when the video for Grande’s new single Petal was released on July 31, showing the singer to be noticeably frailer and thinner, with painfully visible collar bones and sternum. Reactions varied from shrugging toleration to quiet horror. And then louder horror.Clumsy and invasive comparisons with Karen Carpenter and Lena Zavaroni were made, two stars of yesteryear who both suffered from acute anorexia.‘This poor woman is possibly dying right in front of us,’ posted TV star, activist and former anorexic Jameela Jamil on X. Ariana Grande performing during her Eternal Sunshine world tour Ms Grande and her team would argue that it is morally wrong to comment upon her appearance, but I delicately disagree, writes Jan Moir Ms Grande in her new music video for Petal – which sparked concern among fansThis breathless, dramatic observation about Miss Grande provoked a backlash of its own, and while it may have been crass, it was certainly what many were thinking. For the Petal images really are shocking.It is hard not to gasp at the sight of Ariana dancing in an off-the-shoulder top, her collar bones jutting through her skin like knotty walnuts and everyone involved obviously thinking her appearance is absolutely fine, no cause for alarm here.Following the backlash, things moved quickly. Over the first weekend in August, Grande’s representatives announced that she would be stepping back from ‘public-facing work’ once the London dates end on September 1.On stage the following Monday, Ariana reassured fans attending her Eternal Sunshine gig in Chicago that her decision to retreat from the public eye came from a ‘thoughtful, empowered place’, and had been planned ‘a long time ago’ – but is that really true?The Petal video was shot early in July, but it has been less than two weeks since she cancelled her much anticipated role in Sunday In The Park With George, a revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical, which was due to open in London next summer.Grande and her team would argue that it is morally wrong to comment upon her appearance, but I delicately disagree. In a clamorous world where she is a role model to millions of young women, surely there is a danger in saying nothing – because it can look like acceptance or even approval.Consider that Grande has her own make-up range, plus a lucrative global ambassadorship deal with Swarovski alongside a perfume collection whose signature scent is Sweet Like Candy, a fruity gourmand sold in a girly pink bottle with a matching pom?pom, yours for a little over £42 at Superdrug. And here at the O2 – as on all her tour gigs – a massive and massively overpriced merchandising operation selling £100 sweatshirts and £40 T-shirts along with cat hats (£40) and her trademark red mesh gloves (£20).She is a successful actress too; the former Nickelodeon child star was nominated for an Oscar last year for her role as Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked.As a highly marketable entity, Ariana has not baulked at using her image to sell her products, subtly encouraging her fans – variously known as the Arianators, the Ariana Army and the Tiny Elephants – to look and be like her in myriad, cutesy ways. There were thousands and thousands of them at the O2 on Saturday, their hair tied up with ribbons in swishy Ariana ponytails, their little black dresses worn in homage to hers, complete with Ariana rabbit ears and Ariana boots on their feet.Given all this, I would argue that with great fame (and fortune) comes great responsibility. For Ariana and her team, releasing such disturbing images in the Petal video without acknowledgement or explanation is negligent and possibly damaging, especially when one considers the potential vulnerability of her tween fanbase.Yet we have been here before. In 2023, following similar comments about her fragile appearance, Grande made a pleading TikTok video to tell the world and specifically those social media commentators with few boundaries that ‘there are many different ways to look healthy and beautiful’.Watching her incredible performance on Saturday I thought – could she be right?For on this hot August night, the 5ft-nothing star ripped through a set that lasted for about 105 minutes, packing in 26 songs and several quickfire costume changes.At all times her vocals were soaring and powerful, her four-octave range pure and undimmed. She performed complex choreography, scampering up and down the stage in high heels and frills. She delivered the huge beats and choruses of her banger hits like Rain On Me and Into You with the same urgent plangency that she sang affecting ballads such as Positions and Hampstead.On the endurance scale she is perhaps way behind Taylor Swift (who isn’t?), whose live shows on the Eras tour lasted for 3.5 hours and featured 46 songs.But still ahead of Adele, whose shows in 2024 in Germany lasted for 2.5 hours, included 22 songs and zero dancing while she spent most of the evening complaining that she hated performing live.I saw all these shows and perhaps, despite everything, Ariana has a point: healthy can look different.For a performer needs strength, stamina and fitness to be able execute a show like hers for ten nights. Your heart must be strong, your lung capacity must be peak. A weakling couldn’t do it. In addition, you need the mental focus, grit and calf muscles to be able to do it backwards and in high heels.Someone did get stretchered out at 8.40pm on Saturday night, but it was a member of the audience not the vibrant Ariana. She repeatedly told the crowd how much she loved them and was going to ‘savour every moment’ of her last shows for a while.The evening ended with the star in a white floaty dress, being hoisted up into the ceiling. An angelic ascent after a heavenly evening. However, that tiny elephant remains in the room. And despite Ariana Grande’s protestations, in song and in person, I think it needs to be addressed.