Pete Davidson Defends His Storied Dating History - Having Relationships With 10 People In 12 Years Is NBD!

Pete Davidson is getting real about his dating life. By the sound of it, he’s sick and tired of fan commentary on his high-profile pursuit of love!

The 29-year-old comedian sat down for a new interview with Jon Bernthal this week. Speaking on Bernthal’s popular Real Ones podcast, Pete got, well, real about his romantic life. And he clarified some things about his A-list set of exes, too!

This Real Ones episode was released to Bernthal’s Patreon subscribers on Thursday. Clips were slowly making their way online by Friday morning, but the full thing hasn’t come out in public view yet. Regardless, insiders are already reacting to the Saturday Night Live alum’s frank and honest interview comments.

When Jon asked Pete about why the public is so interested in his love life, Kim Kardashian‘s ex offered up the opinion that he actually doesn’t think his romantic interests should be that, well, interesting:

“I think what happened was I became more known before the work was there. But I was always working. … Look, I’m in my 20s and I’ve dated people and for some reason that is very crazy and interesting to people. I don’t think it’s that interesting.”

He continued:

“I’ve been in show business for half my life almost, for like 14, 15 years, and on a national TV show. And in 12 years, I’ve dated like 10 people, I don’t really think that’s that crazy. But to some people it seems very interesting.”

Damn!

The Meet Cute star went on to admit that the public’s fixation on his dating world has been “confusing.” Noting how he’s not active on social media, and thus not trying to pick up online clout with partners, Pete explained:

“I’m not on Instagram. I’m not on social media. I’m not, like, flexing, you know what I mean?”

The stand-up comedian added:

“These people that I’ve dated, like I’ve met them at work. Like, I wasn’t in anyone’s DMs, no one was in mine. … I worked at one of the five Hollywood epicenters where you meet people. And that’s just who I was working with and who I was around.”

For the Staten Island-born Davidson — who is currently dating Chase Sui Wonders — it’s been a maddening experience to try to grow his career while “all anyone will talk about” are his high-profile pursuits.

Things got particularly difficult in the years before he left SNL back in 2022. Pete recalled feeling “insecure” and like “a small person” while fans on set seemed to be reveling in his personal backstory more than his comedy during his eight-season run on the sketch show. He explained:

“They’re making fun of you … and then you gotta walk out and do a sketch next and hit your mark. The show just made fun of you, so why [is the audience] going to laugh at you? They just dogged you!”

Oof.

Davidson concluded:

“[It has] zero to do with the work, and that is a really s**tty feeling.”

Of course, the King of Staten Island star has quite the dating resume: the aforementioned SKIMS mogul, Kate Beckinsale, Margaret Qualley, Emily Ratajkowski, and his 2018 whirlwind romance and brief engagement to Ariana Grande all come to mind. Even slightly lesser-profile women like Kaia Gerber, Phoebe Dynevor, Cazzie David, and Carly Aquilino have notably been in the mix.

Pete has only upped his comedy profile through it all, landing Netflix specials and starring in new projects like Wizards! even after leaving SNL at the end of last season. So the two have gone hand-in-hand — at least in fans’ minds and on social media.

You can see a preview clip showing some of Davidson’s other Real Ones comments (below). In it, he talks about his career, his mental health, his father’s death in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, and more: