Olivia Dunne celebrates 'best of both worlds' in Sports Illustrated cover shoot
Olivia Dunne wants fans to believe they can have the 'best of both worlds' after taking part in a Sports Illustrated photoshoot.
Olivia Dunne wants fans to believe they can have the "best of both worlds" after making her SI Swimsuit debut on a Bermuda beach for a photoshoot. The former national championship-winning LSU gymnast, whose boyfriend is MLB superstar Paul Skenes, recently retired from competition and will focus on her highly lucrative business ventures.
During her college days, Dunne was one of the highest NIL earners in the country. Her latest photoshoot with Sports Illustrated pays testament to that, jetting off to exotic Bermuda and basking on a sun-kissed beach.
"When people look at my Sports Illustrated [Swimsuit] photos, I want them to take away that you can have the best of both worlds," she told SI. "You can be an athlete.
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"You can be in school. You can do modeling. You can have the best of both worlds and you can be a strong, independent woman while doing it all."
Modeling appears to be the route Dunne is looking to take after leaving the Tigers. She'll also manage her high-profile relationship with Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher, Skenes, whom she has been publicly dating since 2023.
"Opposites attract" is often a phrase heard, and it's one that Dunne wholeheartedly believes when it comes to her boyfriend. Despite being in the spotlight as one of MLB's best pitchers, Skenes isn't a fan of drawing too much attention, while his girlfriend has found her own path with social media, content creation, and modeling.
"I feel like we're like yin and yang," Dunne told PEOPLE last year. "I love doing social media and I enjoy being in the spotlight," she continued. "[Skenes] doesn't even have social media on his phone [and] doesn't like social media at all."
One of Skenes' shining qualities in their relationship is how he holds Dunne accountable. "I think that we play off of one another and make each other better," she said. "Paul definitely holds me accountable, which I really appreciate ... Sometimes it's hard to find it within yourself to do things."
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How did the two athletes meet? Baton Rouge. The home of the Tigers. Skenes' best friend was dating Dunne's roommate, Elena Marenas, a fellow LSU gymnast and TikTok personality.
“I would kind of see him around and be like ‘who is this tall guy — this tall mysterious man,’” she said. Dunne also attended a Tigers game to get a closer look at Skenes. "There he is. He’s cute. He didn’t even have a mustache yet," she recalled.
"I saw him in the dugout and I thought he was cute," Dunne said on SportsCenter. "I could never actually watch him pitch because he would pitch on Friday nights and that's when we were competing so I had no clue what he was capable of at the time."
