Before Kate McKinnon poked fun at Pete Davidson’s dating life in an upcoming Super Bowl commercial, she got the green light from him.
“I made sure to check with him, and he was totally game,” McKinnon, 40, recalled to CNN on Tuesday, January 30. “He’s a delight. He’s such a sweetie, and he’s so smart. I am a huge fan of him as a comedian and as a person.”
The Barbie actress noted that it’s “always so good” to see people associated with Saturday Night Live. (McKinnon was a regular on SNL from 2012 to 2022, overlapping with Davidson, 30, who was a cast member from 2014 to 2022.)
“There’s like a glimmer in the eye and knowing that we did this crazy thing together and here we are,” she said. “It’s just so good to see each other again. Always.”
McKinnon and Davidson joined forces again to film a commercial for Super Bowl LVIII with Hellmann’s mayonnaise. In the commercial, released on Tuesday, Davidson had a short-lived romance with “Mayo Cat,” a feline who McKinnon thinks can speak when she mistakes the cat’s “meow” for “mayo.”
“Mayo Cat” quickly launches into stardom, heading on a press tour which concludes with the feline’s red carpet debut with Davidson (who starred in last year’s Hellman’s big game ad). The next clip displayed their public breakup on the cover of a magazine, reading: “Mayo Cat Dumps Davidson.”
“You lasted longer than most,” McKinnon said to “Mayo Cat,” mocking Davidson’s dating life.
Davidson has been linked to a number of A-listers through the years, including Kim Kardashian, Ariana Grande, Kaia Gerber, Kate Beckinsale and most recently Madelyn Cline.
Us Weekly broke the news of Davidson and Cline’s romance in September 2023 after the twosome called it quits with their previous partners. (Davidson split from Chase Sui Wonders in August 2023 after less than one year of dating, while the Outer Banks star, 26, seemingly confirmed her breakup with Jackson Guthy in July 2023 when she unfollowed him on Instagram.)
The pair have kept their relationship private since they began dating, offering rare glimpses when spotted together out and about. A source exclusively told Us that Davidson and Cline “wanted to keep things under wraps” for as long as possible because “they assumed there would be a whole frenzy surrounding their relationship.”
During a March 2023 episode of the “Real Ones with Jon Bernthal” podcast, Davidson got candid about the spotlight on his dating life.
“I’m in my 20s and I’ve dated people. And for some reason, that’s very crazy and interesting to people. I don’t think it’s interesting,” Davidson said. “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. I don’t think that’s that crazy, but to some people, that’s very interesting. That became all anyone would talk about.”
