Former LSU ace Paul Skenes addresses relationship with Tigers superstar gymnast Livvy Dunne

It’s an LSU power couple for the ages: Former baseball ace pitcher Paul Skenes and current star Tigers gymnast Livvy Dunne are dating, he apparently confirmed to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Rumors that Skenes and Dunne were an item had begun earlier in the summer and intensified after she attended one of his early professional pitching outings in Florida this week.

Skenes, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, led LSU to a baseball national championship as their No. 1 starting pitcher. Dunne, of course, has rose to national prominence as a high-level gymnast and online influencer, starring for LSU in the collegiate ranks.

It’s a relationship that Skenes discussed in-depth with The Post-Gazette.

“It’s nice, for sure. 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 said. It’s nice to be able to have that conversation. She does get it. 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 explained the origins of the relationship and it’s not a star-crossed moment that brought the pitcher and gymnast together. Instead, one of his friends was dating Dunne’s roommate and LSU gymnastics teammate, Elena Andreas.

While Dunne and Skenes spent time in Florida through summer during Skenes short-lived stint in the minor leagues, sporting obligations sent them their separate ways for the time being. Dunne is back in Baton Rouge for another season with the LSU gymnastics team and Skenes is working his way up through the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

But their own athletic pursuits won’t slow the attention or adoration from LSU fans and from elsewhere, both in real life and on social media.

For two high-level athletes, the social media noise isn’t new — Dunne, especially, has a massive following on Instagram of 4.3 million followers — but Skenes shared the challenge of not getting upset about what might be written about him, Dunne, or the both of them.

He’s learned it’s easier ignored than forgotten.

“She doesn’t like seeing some of it, too. 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,'” Skenes said. “In my mind, it’s a lot easier to not see it than not get upset over it.”