Phoebe Dynevor is opening up about the lessons she learned from dating a Hollywood star.

In a new cover interview for Elle published Tuesday, the Bridgerton actress, 28, reflected on her six-month relationship with Pete Davidson and the “very surreal” attention that their romance garnered.

“It just goes back to being naïve — I didn’t think anyone would care,” she admitted. “I was just being a young woman and dating and somehow that provokes a conversation. There were lots of hard lessons I had to learn through basically just having a personal life.”

The pair first began dating in February 2021, though they weren’t publicly linked until March 2021 when the comedian, 29, was spotted in Manchester, England, where Dynevor is from. They then dated until August of that year.

Their split came just over a month after they made their first public appearance together as a couple at Wimbledon.

Dynevor went on to share with Elle that the fascination with the duo’s relationship ended up altering how she lives her day-to-day life.

“You realize, ‘Oh, I can’t live my life in the way that I used to. I have to keep my cards slightly closer to my chest,’” she admitted. “There was a time, for example, when I’d post anything on my Instagram, and now I’m very, very careful about what I put out into the world.”

“This whole world that I was opened up to was really intimidating,” she continued, adding that being photographed by the paparazzi as word of her romance with Davidson got out was “super scary.”

But, she says, the focus on her love life also taught her to let go of things easier. “People are going to make up whatever story that they want to make from a few pictures, that’s fine,” she told Elle. “I had to learn to let things go and let it wash over my head instead of the normal reaction, which is to be like, ‘But that’s not true, and that didn’t happen.'”

“You have to let it go and focus on the work. I really am just here to act; I love my job so much, and it was weird for me that the attention was being taken away from my work,” she added.

Dynevor, who starred as Daphne Bridgerton in the Netflix hit, is now dating actor Cameron Fuller. They were first spotted together in March, but they didn’t spark romance rumors until April when they were photographed strolling hand-in-hand during an outing in London.

Meanwhile, Davidson went on to date Kim Kardashian for nine months following his split from Dynevor. The pair were first romantically linked in October 2021, but they called it quits in August 2022.

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 juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Davidson then started dating his Bodies Bodies Bodies costar Chase Sui Wonders but they split in August after less than a year together. Last week, a source confirmed to PEOPLE that he is now dating Outer Banks actress Madelyn Cline.