Pete Davidson says SNL made him feel like a “loser” with jokes about his dating life

3 April 2023, 12:49

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By Katie Louise Smith

"At the end of the day, that’s what it is. This was a really difficult thing to do. You feel small. You feel super insecure."

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Pete Davidson has opened up about how he felt like a "loser" after Saturday Night Live started roasting his love life.

Pete joined the cast of SNL in 2014 and left the show after eight seasons in 2022. During that time, Pete's personal life became a huge talking point on social media and began to make headlines thanks to his former relationship with Ariana Grande.

Since then, the interest and the memes haven't slowed down. Over the past few years, Pete has been linked to multiple women in the public eye, including Phoebe Dynevor, Kate Beckinsale, Kaia Gerber, Emily Ratajkowski and Kim Kardashian. Most of those relationships have been very public, too.

Now, Pete has shared that the interest surrounding his love life and the subsequent jokes made about it on SNL have made him feel like a "loser" and "super insecure".

Pete Davidson opens up about how SNL jokes about his love life affected him. Picture: Mike Coppola/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images, SNL via YouTube

Speaking on a recent episode of of Jon Berthnal’s podcast, Real Ones, Pete opened up about how the public's perception and 'obsession' with his love life has affected him over the past few years.

"I’m in my twenties and I’ve dated people. And for some reason, that’s very crazy and interesting to people. I don’t think it’s interesting," he said. "I’ve been in show business for, like, half my life almost, for 14 or 15 years and on a national TV show."

Pete went on to specify how many people he's dated in that time: "In 12 years I’ve dated 10 people. I don’t think that’s that crazy, but to some people, that’s very interesting. That became all anyone would talk about."

"I wasn’t in anyone’s DMs, no one was in mine. I worked at one of the five Hollywood epicentres of where you meet people and that’s how it happened," he added, explaining that he met a lot of people through his work on the show.

Pete Davidson jokes about failed engagement to Ariana Grande

On SNL, Pete has often poked fun at himself and his relationships during the Weekend Update segment. But it was the references that made it into the other sketches, while he was still on the show, that made him feel like a "loser".

"Suddenly you’re in this zeitgeist and that has nothing to do with the work," he explained. "And that’s a really shitty feeling. I became more known before the work was there, but I was always working. I’m cool with the joke. I get the late-night jokes."

"When your own show [pokes fun at you]...I’d be sitting in the back watching the cold open and — the cold open [is] topical, political humour, whatever’s in the culture. And then, making fun of you," he said. "Then you’ve gotta walk out and do a sketch next and hit your mark and the show just made fun of you. So, why are they gonna laugh at you? Like, they just dogged you in front of everyone[...] And you’re like, 'I’m a fucking loser, man.'"

Pete Davidson's relationship with Ariana Grande garnered a lot of news coverage. Picture: Getty

Despite the jokes, there doesn't seem to be any bad blood between Pete and his former co-stars, and he even made sure to express how grateful he was to SNL boss Lorne Michaels.

"They’ve watched me through the most difficult time in my life, and they’ve been there for me. And nobody ever showed more leeway and grace to me than Lorne Michaels, and I owe my life to that guy," he said.

"But it was fucking confusing because the nature of entertainment is the nature of this business. At the end of the day, that’s what it is. This was a really difficult thing to do. You feel small. You feel super insecure."