Pete Davidson Says He Doesn’t Want to Be Seen as ‘This F—ing Loser Who Just Dates People’: ‘Not Who I Am’

Pete Davidson is ready to change the public’s perception of him.

The Saturday Night Live alum, 31, reflected on the lessons he’s learned from his relationships becoming headline news over the years.

“I got hit on the face with the Hollywood shovel,” he told W Magazine.  “It was a long time coming, and I needed it. I’m very happy where I am right now, mentally.”

“I just want to be known for doing good work,” he added. “I want to be out there only when it’s [a] movie, stand-up, charity, or business ventures. That’s when I want to be seen. I don’t want to be this f—ing loser who just dates people. That’s not who I am.”

The comedian — who has been romantically linked to Madelyn Cline, Kate Beckinsale, Kim Kardashian and Ariana Grande, among other stars — also discussed how he became “oversaturated” in the spotlight.

“In The Sopranos, there’s this line from Tony that’s like, ‘You ever feel like you got into something at the end? When the good times were over?’” the Bupkis star explained. “That’s how I feel about show business and being a celebrity. It’s over.”

“When you’re first coming up, and getting all these offers, it’s hard to say no, because you’re hungry,” he continued. “I made the mistake of doing literally everything. Now I’m older and wiser, and I’m realizing that less is more. Like Christian Bale. He does one movie every two, three years, but you go f—ing see it. Leo[nardo DiCaprio] does one movie every four years, but it’s the biggest thing in the world.”

“It’s because you miss them. People have to miss you,” he hypothesized.

Davidson previously opened up about the fascination around his dating life in  a conversation with Jon Berthnal for The Walking Dead alum’s Real Ones podcast.

“I’m in my 20’s 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 in March 2023. “I’ve been in show business for, like, half my life almost — for 14 or 15 years and on a national TV show. In 12 years I’ve dated 10 people.”

He added: “I don’t think that’s that crazy, but to some people, that’s very interesting. That became all anyone would talk about.”

He went to explain that his relationships have come about organically, explaining, “I’m not, like, flexing, you know what I mean? And these people that I’ve dated, I met them at work.”

“I wasn’t in anyone’s DMs, no one was in mine,” he said. “I worked at one of the five Hollywood epicenters of where you meet people and that’s how it happened.”

“Suddenly you’re in this zeitgeist and that has nothing to do with the work,” he added. “And that’s a really s—ty feeling. I became more known before the work was there, but I was always working.”

He noted that Saturday Night Live — on which he was a cast member from 2014 to 2022 — often poking fun at his relationships hit especially close to home.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

“When your own show [pokes fun at you],” he shared. “I’d be sitting in the back watching the cold open and — the cold open [is] topical, political humor, whatever’s in the culture. And then, making fun of you. 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 f—ing loser, man.'”

He continued, “These are the people I’ve been with for almost a decade. I grew up in front of these people. 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, but it was f—ing confusing ’cause 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.”