How did Paul Skenes and Olivia Dunne meet? All about the MLB pitcher and gymnast’s relationship
There’s no shyness when it comes to the expression of love between Olivia “Livvy” Dunne and her boyfriend, professional baseball player Paul Skenes.
Though they’ve not been together for a very long time, the way in which the pair have enamored the public with their love story is quite something to see. Indeed, it was only last summer when the Dunne sparked speculation after she was seen wearing Skenes jersey at the College World Series in June 2023.
Who are Olivia Dunne and Paul Skenes
Born in Westwood, New Jersey in 2002, Olivia Dunne started her gymnastics training in 2005 at ENA Gymnastics. Following an impressive climb up the ladder of the gymnastics world during her adolescence, she finally made her elite debut at the 2014 American Classic where she finished 28th overall. She would later go on to compete at the U.S. Classic where she finished 24th overall in the all0around before finally making her National Championships debut in 2015. Since then Dunne has made a number of appearances at premier events including the 2017 National Championships where she placed ninth in the all-around. Today she is a member of the LSU Tigers team and was most recently part of the team that won its first national championship in the program’s history (2023-24 season).
Regarding Paul Skenes, the California native grew up in Lake Forest which is located in Orange County. After turning out for El Toro High School’s baseball team, he attended the Air Force Academy for two years before transferring to LSU for his junior year. Interstingly, Skenes has since said that he would still like to serve in the military after his baseball career comes to an end. “I would say serving is still in the picture because that’s something that you can start doing when you’re 40, 50,” he said. “But I think, to be honest, you only get one shot at baseball, and so that’s my goal right now.” At present Skenes plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates after being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.
So, how did Olivia Dunne and Paul Skenes meet?
By now you can probably guess that it was at LSU that the pair would have met. As mentioned above, Skenes was there for just one year, during which he helped the baseball team win the 2023 Men’s College World Series. Incidentally, he was also named the 2023 National Player of the Year, 2023 National Pitcher of the Year, and 2023 College World Series Most Outstanding Player. Of course, that’s not important because it has nothing to do with how he met the lady in his life.
As the story goes, the two were introduced to each other by mutual friends. During an interview with Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Skenes revealed that his roommate who was also his best friend at LSU happened to be dating Dunne’s roommate. Skenes described it as a “a small-world type of thing.” It was of course not long before speculation started to swirl and in August of 2023, Dunne appeared to confirm the rumors when she responded to a social post from a hairstylist about their possible relationship.
It was then Skenes’ turn and he didn’t choose the 5th Amendment either, as he seemingly lamented the pitfalls of both living a rather public life due to their respective occupations. “It can be a pain in the butt sometimes, to be honest, in terms of actually going somewhere,” he confessed. “If one of us went out in Baton Rouge [La.] by ourselves, there’s probably gonna be someone there asking for something — picture, autograph, whatever.” This brings us to the present where the couple appears to be very happy and Dunne herself admits she’s his biggest fan. “I have so many amazing memories with him, but I know how hard he’s worked for this moment,” she said. “All the hours, I just know what a hard worker he is. This is probably one of my favorite moments I’ve ever seen. Seriously, there is nothing that can top this. I’m just so proud,”