Who is Paul Skenes dating? All you need to know about gymnast Livvy Dunne and how the couple met
They are a sports power couple even though Olivia “Livvy” Dunne has retired from gymnastics. She’ll be cheering on her boyfriend Paul Skenes as he starts against Mexico in the WBC.
They have been together for over three years now and the pair have enamored the public with their love story. Indeed, it seems like yesterday when Dunne sparked speculation after she was seen wearing Skenes’ jersey at the College World Series in June 2023.
Getting to know 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.
She retired from gymnastics in April 2025 at the end of the LSU Tigers’ 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.
Skenes has 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.” 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.
- December 2023: The couple spent the holidays in New York City together.
- May 2024: Dunne cheered on Skenes at his MLB debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- July 2024: Made their red-carpet debut at the MLB All-Star Game in Texas.
- November 2024: Appeared together as guest pickers on ESPN’s College GameDay.
- February 2025: Their long-distance relationship continued, with plans to support each other’s schedules
- January 2026: The couple attended the CY Young winner dinner together in New York City.
Skenes has been open about the difficulties of 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,”
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