Welp. The man who inspired the term “BDE” is no longer single, probably. Earlier this week, an article in The Sun claimed that Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson has started dating Phoebe Dynevor, aka Bangs from Bridgerton, despite them living on entirely different continents and it being a global pandemic.
The romance, which is shaping up to be a real-life, gender-swapped Notting Hill, supposedly began in February, when Bangs happened to be in NYC to film scenes for Younger (y'all know she plays Josh's baby mama, right?). According to The Sun, sources claim the female PD apparently met the male PD during her time in New York, hence her caption, “Grateful I got to be here.” We think that “here” means a snowy weekend in Brooklyn, probably maybe with Pete.
Then, last weekend, things got serious when Brits spotted Davidson and Dynevor (sounds like a cop show, right?) in North London and near her childhood home in Altrincham, Manchester. A Facebook group for Altrincham locals posted a photo of Pete and locals, with the caption, “Bizarre Altrincham spot of the day today Pete Davidson in the market quarter. Star of King Of Staten Island...and also in the forthcoming Suicide Squad movie. He’s staying over in Altrincham with friends.”
Get a man who will fly across the ocean, land in London, then take an additional 3-hour car or train ride just to see your hometown. Even if you just started dating.
Some background: Phoebe is 25, making her only two years younger than Davidson. Her mother Sally is a famous soap actress; she’s been on the show Coronation Street since 1985. Sally seems to never not be on TV, which is probably why the Queen knighted her. I think Bangs kind of resembles Pete’s coworker, Chloe Fineman, which makes sense because Chloe played Daphne Bridgerton in an SNL sketch last month.
We love to follow a Pete Davidson romance, and so do the headlines, because Pete is funny, he loves his mom (and lives in her basement), he loves to chill, and he gives major sweetie dirtbag vibes. Pete is a kid at heart, and his goofy comedy style is very boy-next-door. Just like a young Adam Sandler, he’s got an extremely promising career ahead of him, which will likely include some cute attempts to be serious and arty.
And yes, he has his demons: he’s struggled with mental illnesses, Crohn’s Disease, and substance abuse. But part of the allure is believing we can “heal” his sexy, sensitive heart. Or at least make sure he doesn’t get any more regrettable, spontaneous tattoos. Alexa, play “Fix U” by Coldplay.
It's also fun to follow Petey because you never know who he’s going to date next, which makes him perfect for gossip rags. And with so many celebs, you know, following quarantine parameters, it's fun (if not very dangerous!) that he's out on the town giving us something to talk about, Bonnie Raitt style.
Yes, sure, OK, he's pretty predictable, even if he's out there: all of his exes are white, doe-eyed cis women with straight hair and varying degrees of fame. But he's also not predictable? He's chaotic and the lollipops and tattoos and high-tops somehow add up to a modern-day, very-much-more interesting Backstreet Boy. Except he's got real talent, real beauty, and real truth, you know? Kinda? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Let’s take a look at Pete’s dating CV and see how we make our way to Phoebe.
2015: Carly Aquilino
The stand-up comedian, known for her time as a talking head on MTV’s Girl Code, reportedly dated Pete around 2015.
As Pete’s 2018 engagement to Ariana Grande loomed, Aquilino posted an Instagram story, sharing that she was tired of friends texting her to tell her the news. Carly and Pete have seemingly remained friends – they hung out at a comedy show in early 2019.
2016-2018: Cazzie David
When Cazzie dated Pete, she was primarily known as “Larry David’s daughter.” But her tumultuous break up with Pete amid rumors he cheated on Cazzie to be with Ariana Grande arguably paved the way for her writing and acting career. (Cazzie has appeared on Umbrella Academy and had a pilot deal based on her web series, 86ed).
In Cazzie's 2020 book of essays, No One Asked For This, readers got a full rundown of her side of the breakup in a piece called “Erase Me.” The day after Davidson broke up with her (in a text), Cazzie was on an airplane scrolling social media when she learned Davidson was dating Ariana.
She says she “shook uncontrollably” the entire flight. “It was abnormally unavoidable; everywhere and obsessed over by everyone,” Cazzie wrote, detailing another time when she ran out of a nightclub hyperventilating after one of Grande’s tracks came on.
Many fans think the Ariana Grande song, “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored” is about how her and Pete’s relationship started while Cazzie and Pete were still together. This has not been verified. Ariana maintains the song is about loving yourself.
May 2018-October 2018: Ariana Grande
Some people claim there was an overlap between Cazzie and Ariana. I’m just going to leave this here:
They claim they met at SNL when Ariana hosted, but their meet-cute was always vague. Timeline aside, once Pete and Ariana were together, they were very together. There were the matching Harry Potter sweatshirts, the (now covered-up) tattoos, and all of the wonderful (semi-embarrassing) corresponding content, galore.
By June of 2018, they had announced their engagement. However, by October, after the death of Grande’s ex, Mac Miller, Grande and Davidson split up. It was too much, too fast.
By February 2019, Grande had already released three love songs and one breakup anthem ("thank u, next") about Pete. He’s the face that launched a thousand downloads.
January 2019-April 2019: Kate Beckinsale
After flirting with her at a Golden Globes after-party, Pete Davidson took a trip to cougar town and struck up a fling with Kate Beckinsale, of '90s film fame. Pete went on Weekend Update to defend their nearly 20-year age difference, but people still hated on them. Around this time, the iconic photo of them french kissing at a hockey game while seated next to Antoni Porowski (Queer Eye) was snapped. It was a great day on the internet.
It’s unclear why they fizzled out by August, but four months of non-stop PDA is probably exhausting. Talking to Charlamagne, Pete looked fondly on the romance as “legendary.”
August 2019 to October 2019: Margaret Qualley
Paparazzi photos of Margaret (Andie MacDowell’s daughter) and Davidson began to swirl in the summer of 2019. Their first public appearance was the Venice Film Festival which gave us dozens of romantic, canal-side photos of the two. But, by October, Us Weekly told us they were over but “remained friends.”
October 2019 - January 2020: Kaia Gerber
Just a month after her 18th birthday, Pete was spotted dating Kaia Gerber (the daughter of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber) after they both walked in the same fashion show.
This relationship is best remembered for a strange incident between Cindy and Rande about Pete outside Kaia’s apartment. Sources claimed to The Daily Mail that they saw Cindy and Rande in a fight, with Rande allegedly telling Cindy that Pete “needed help” and had “scratched out eyes.” Then, according to the ever-reliable Daily Mail, Pete supposedly came out of Kaia’s apartment and had a conversation with Rande before driving away.
So weird, allegedly. The couple broke up in early 2020 before Pete checked himself into rehab. “She’s very young, and I’m f—ing going through a lot,” he told PEOPLE.
Early March 2021 - Michelle Mootreddy: Not real
Earlier this month, a press release circulated claiming that Pete was married to his childhood friend, Michelle Mootreddy. At first, gossip mags claimed this was just the result of “hacking” or a “prank.” But, a criminal investigation revealed that Mootreddy had stalked Pete and burglarized his home. Pete and his team secured a restraining order shortly after.
Mid-March 2021: Bangs McGees
That brings us to Phoebe. Their relationship is still unconfirmed, but Page Six reported on Thursday, March 25 that a 14-year-old girl spotted Pete and Bangs holding hands and hugging in the small British town of Caverswall, Staffordshire. If I'm to believe any gossip, whatsoever, it's definitely from a tween. I'm being serious. We have to stan that Pete gets into a relationship with a British chick, and they go on a date in a place called "Caverswall, Staffordshire." Next stop Sherwood Forest, wherever they filmed Monty Python, and culminating in Meg and Harry’s chicken coop.
Phoebe seems like the next natural step for Pete. She's in his age range, which doesn't always matter, I agree, but still; she's a rising A-lister and definitely on that "prestige path." She has a fun accent, can rock 19th c. bangs, and because Bridgerton is a documentary, as far as I'm concerned, she's a time traveler.
As of publication of this article, Phoebe's Wikipedia page doesn't have a photo of her. Will her relationship with Pete, who we all clearly love to talk about, get her there? Will someone make an ArmasUpdates-style stan account to document their every move? Come on, Bangs! We're rooting for you.
Image: PhoebeDynevor/Instagram; SNL Screenshot