For months, rumors swirled that LSU gymnast Olivia “Livvy” Dunne had been seeing a secret someone, although the social media sensation didn’t give any official details.
However, it’s recently been confirmed that she’s dating Paul Skenes, who has recently spoken about their relationship with various sources.
It’s raised questions from some of Dunne’s biggest fans about who Skenes is, although LSU sports fans will have a pretty good idea.
Like Dunne, Skenes is a fellow athlete at Louisiana State University and has moved on to the big leagues, likely boosting his popularity.
Dating a gorgeous gymnast and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model with a substantial social media following who regularly makes headlines won’t hurt either.
Here’s what we know so far about the man that Dunne is dating and some of his thoughts on their relationship.
Paul Skenes is a baseball phenomenon
Paul Skenes, born in Fullerton, California, is a 21-year-old baseball pitcher. He had several uncles who served in the military, and ultimately, Skenes played college baseball for two years for the Air Force Falcons.
Following his sophomore season, the right-hander transferred via the portal to play for the LSU Tigers, which would garner him more exposure.
It was a wise move, as Skenes broke Ben McDonald’s SEC and LSU strikeouts record and followed that with winning the 2023 College World Series.
He won the National Pitcher of the Year Award after his 2023 season and then College World Series Most Outstanding Player.
All of the above boosted his already impressive profile, and Skenes was officially drafted first overall in the 2023 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. His college teammate, Dylan Crews, went second overall.
Skenes became the second player from LSU to go first overall, with Ben McDonald the first. However, he set a new record as the highest-paid No. 1 pick, signing for $9.2 million. He’s been compared to pitching stars Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg.
Following his draft selection and joining the team, an Instagram carousel post arrived via Skenes and the Pirates. One image featured him smiling as he held up a jersey with his name on the back. In a clip, he spoke about bringing back the “tradition of winning” in Pittsburgh with the MLB team. Additional clips show Skenes signing on the dotted line with the Pirates and working out on the baseball field.
As of this past week, Skenes was signed with the Pirates’ Single-A affiliate Bradenton Marauders, where he’ll begin his journey to get on the major league team’s roster.
Skenes said dating Livvy is ‘nice’ but brings some issues
Based on Skenes’ comments, his best friend at LSU was dating Elena Marenas, who is Dunne’s roommate. From there, Skenes and Dunne met and began dating.
Skenes spoke about how it’s “nice” to date another popular LSU athlete because they understand one another. However, it brings its share of challenging times because they are recognizable in the area and probably elsewhere.
“It can be a pain in the butt sometimes, to be honest, in terms of actually going somewhere. If one of us went out in Baton Rouge by ourselves, there’s probably gonna be someone there asking for something — picture, autograph, whatever,” Skenes told Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Currently, the issues arrive due to Skenes not being at the professional level. Prospects begin playing for minor league teams affiliated with their MLB clubs, and it could take several years for him to get on the Pirates’ roster.
“I do wish she could come to a baseball game and just enjoy it. It does irk me. I don’t have any control over it. She really doesn’t either. I’m sure it’ll get better as I go up levels, but that’s something I want for her,” Skenes said.
Per the Gazette’s report, Dunne had been attending games anonymously as best she could, but issues arrived during Skene’s debut earlier this week. On Tuesday at LECOM Park, Dunne std out watching the game from behind home plate. She eventually moved to the broadcast booth due to too much fan interaction and harassment.
Dunne still appears to be enjoying her time at baseball games and is learning about a sport she was mostly unfamiliar with until now.
Livvy’s boyfriend doesn’t use social media as much
While Livvy Dune embraces social media and uses it in a lucrative fashion, Skenes isn’t quite as enamored with using it or looking at it much.
As of this writing, Skenes has a mere 132,000 followers on his official Instagram, while Dunne boasts 4.3 million on the platform. Her TikTok following is larger at 7.7 million followers, while Skenes has no account or much less activity there.
Skenes appears to go by @Paul_Skenes on Twitter, also known as X, where he has just over 12,000 followers, compared to Dunne, who has nearly 100,000 more. However, Skenes said he isn’t interested in using or viewing what people say on social media.
He admitted he doesn’t keep social media apps open on his phone and stayed away from Twitter during his recent LSU season. Skenes brought up a story about former LSU QB Joe Burrow, now an NFL star, who said he doesn’t use social media, so he doesn’t see any of the online hate he gets about his or his team’s performance.
Skene said he tries to relay a similar message to Dunne about ignoring comments online and from social media platforms.
“She doesn’t like seeing some of it, too,” he told the Gazette, adding, “It’s worse for her. I’ve told her, ‘People are gonna write about you. People are gonna write about me. If it rattles you, if it makes you upset, you gotta find a way to either not see it or not get upset over it.’ In my mind, it’s a lot easier to not see it than not get upset over it.”