Cultural perceptions change over time. In looking back at some of the characters he played on Saturday Night Live over the years, David Spade noticed something new.

"I did a character called Receptionist, where I was just being really aloof to people," Spade said on a recent episode of his podcast Fly on the Wall. "Like, 'Oh, and you are...? And this is regarding...?' And then people would be like, who's that gay character you play?'"

Spade continues, "I'm like, 'I don't think it's gay.' They're like, 'No, you're gay and it's gay and every sketch you're in is a gay person.'"

NBC

Spade's Fly on the Wall cohost (and former SNL costar) Dana Carvey jumped in to joke, "Why would your mom say that?"

"She thought I was coming out," Spade joked back before adding more seriously, "When I look back, I'm like, yeah, I see it."

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Some of the sketches involving Spade's receptionist character were also about him not recognizing famous celebrities, such as when rapper MC Hammer was on the show. In that sketch, Hammer is trying to see Dick Clark, but Spade's receptionist refuses to acknowledge his shortcuts.

"Tell him it's Hammer!" The icon declares.

"And he would know you because...?" Spade's character responds.

Alan Singer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Carvey, who recently returned to SNL as the show's go-to impersonator of President Joe Biden, said that Spade's performances of characters like the receptionist were not necessarily about inherently masculine or feminine traits, but rather how his personality came across at the time.

"It's just languorous, not any sexual orientation," Carvey said.

Spade sometimes leaned into this aspect of his persona. In his 1997-2003 NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me!, Spade played Dennis Finch, an executive assistant who had been a cheerleader in college and was suspected of being gay by his fireman father.

Before Just Shoot Me!, Spade was an SNL cast member from 1990-1996, and went on to star in several movies alongside his former sketch comedy costars, including Tommy Boy (with Chris Farley), Joe Dirt (with Dennis Miller), and the Hotel Transylvania franchise (with Adam Sandler).

Listen to the full episode of Fly on the Wall above.