How Fame Has Affected Olivia Dunne And Paul Skenes' Relationship

Louisiana State University gymnast and social media superstar Oliva Dunne has hit some bumps in the road while adjusting to fame. "Last year was probably one of the most rewarding and most difficult years of my life," she told People in November 2023. At times, Dunne struggled to adjust to the spotlight and the intense fan attention that came with it. In fact, being followed so closely by her fanbase is what led to her relationship with top-rated MLB prospect Paul Skenes becoming public.

Fans started to put social media clues together about the rumored romance in the summer of 2023. First, Dunne was spotted wearing a Skenes jersey in a TikTok taken at a baseball game in June. Then she was photographed wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates hat in Bradenton, Ohio, where Skenes plays for the Pirates minor league team. The successful pair are a good match, as Dunne has lucrative NIL deals, and the pitcher signed a $9.2 million deal with the Pirates in July 2023. Not long after inking the contract, Skenes confirmed he was dating Dunne.

During an interview with The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August 2023, Skenes revealed that he met Dunne through his best friend, who was dating her roommate, Elena Marenas. Skenes also detailed how dating someone as notable as Dunne had its drawbacks. "It can be a pain in the butt sometimes, to be honest, in terms of actually going somewhere," he told the Gazette. Not only was it difficult to get around with his girlfriend in person, but Skenes also experienced issues online.

One reason the relationship between Olivia Dunne and Paul Skenes works is that they relate over being notable sports figures. "It's nice to be able to have that conversation. She does get it," the Pittsburgh Pirates prospect told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August 2023. Still, that notoriety has pitfalls. Dating Dunne has raised the pitcher's profile, which has led to him being less active on social media. "I wasn't on it during the season because it's toxic," he told the Gazette. "There's no substance to it. It can't help."

At times, when Skenes has posted about Dunne on his Instagram page, trolling fans have been quick to point out that he is not a main fixture on her feed. In September 2023, Skenes posted snaps from when he visited Louisiana State University, which included a photo of him and Dunne together at a football game. "Are you [embarrassed] that your girlfriend never posts you and just the thirst traps for her 40 year old fans????" one user wrote. Skenes was given the same treatment when he posted pictures from their visit to New York in December. 

That user was right in a sense, as Dunne had made a conscious effort to keep her relationship low-key. "I've definitely learned over the past few years that ... keeping certain things private is okay," the social media influencer told People in November 2023. She even put off posting photos of Skenes. 

Paul Skenes made his relationship with Olivia Dunne official in that interview in August 2023, but according to the Louisiana State University gymnast, it was already public knowledge. "I guess people caught onto us having pictures and videos together out in public, so that's kind of how the news broke," she told People in November 2023. "But we try to keep things private."

Dunne held off on making the couple Instagram official until she posted a photo dump in October 2023 which included a snap of her cozying up to Skenes at an LSU football game. The following month, she posted another pic with the MLB pitcher as they attended a formal event. "[M]y fav d8," she wrote in the caption of the November 2023 post. The social media star waited another month until she included Skenes in a TikTok. "Pauls first tok," Dunne captioned a video uploaded in December 2023, which was taken during their trip to New York. The clip featured Dunne lip-synching as she stood on a NYC sidewalk with Skenes. 

One account where the couple have been semi-prominent together is on the Instagram page for Dunne's dog Roux. When she created the page in October 2023, the gymnast included a photo of herself and Skenes posing on the couch with the pooch. Later, the trio posed for a family pic on a chair in a snap that was uploaded to the page in December 2023.