Ariana Grande working 'past the point of exhaustion' for Hairspray Live!

Ariana Grande has earned praise for her work ethic on the set of Hairspray Live!

The 23-year old singer has been at the centre of a number of controversies over the years, which have contributed to her "diva" reputation.

Notably, in July (15) the Dangerous Woman singer was caught on a surveillance camera licking donuts in a bakery and yelling “I hate America.”

The singer made the transition from Nickelodeon child star to pop superstar when her sophomore album My Everything debuted at No. 1 in August 2014 - but not without some difficulty. And after reports that she may be back to her diva self on the set of NBC’s Hairspray Live!, the show's writer was quick to dismiss the speculation.

“Ariana is here working her tail off. She is a total team player. She is old school, singing and dancing," the show’s writer Harvey Fierstein told Page Six from rehearsals. "Her only concern is being part of the Hairspray team. If that’s diva, then give me more of that!”

The Problem singer, who is playing Penny Pingleton in the live TV version of the John Waters movie, was reportedly keen to land the part in the upcoming TV special and instructed her manager to call producers to get her name added to the list of wannabes.

“We didn’t know what to expect, but she has been on time to the minute The work she’s done has been meticulous," another source close to the production told the news outlet. "She is singing the s**t out of the score.”

Ariana has reportedly been working non-stop, and after one five hour recording session producers asked if she wanted to stop when “she was past the point of exhaustion”.

“She said, ‘I will not leave until I am done,’” added the source. “I think she will have a breakthrough people aren’t expecting in three weeks.”