By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-09 17:06:44 | Updated at 2025-01-10 02:41:41
9 hours ago
LSU gymnast and social-media sensation Olivia Dunne has revealed that she returned to Baton Rouge for a fifth season because of her Tiger teammates.
Dunne announced her return to the Tigers in July amid speculation she would not exercise her extra year and make a go of influencing full-time with her near-14million followers on Instagram and TikTok.
It was not guaranteed she would return to college sports, as she had a pretty full life away from LSU due to her huge online profile and romance with Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes.
One of Dunne's major partnerships is with the energy drink Accelerator. She got to rub elbows with Travis Kelce while her filming an ad for the brand.
In one commercial, Dunne taught Kelce gymnastics moves, while she caught a football as Taylor Swift's boyfriend looked on in approval.
Skenes and Dunne have been an item since the summer of 2023, when both were student-athletes at LSU.
Dunne revealed she returned to Baton Rouge for a fifth season because of her Tiger teammates
One of Dunne's major partnerships is with Accelerator where she got to rub elbows with Kelce
Dunne has been dating baseball star Paul Skenes since both were student-athletes at LSU
With Skenes watching nearby, Dunne kicked off her season going fourth on the balance beam without a fall, scoring a 9.825. That routine was her first on beam as a Tiger.
Dunne upped her score to a 9.875 going third on the Tigers' final event of the evening, the floor exercise. Dunne has also competed on the uneven bars for LSU in the past.
'I have to seize every moment because I know it could be my last,' Dune said via NOLA.com. 'We will never get this team back, and we have a special group of girls.'
Dunne was granted a fifth year of eligibility in college sports due to being on LSU's roster during the 2020-21 school year, thus amid the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dunne's recent stay in Louisiana also includes her and Skenes being in New Orleans the night of the Bourbon Street terror attack after sharing chilling images of her New Year's celebrations.
On New Year's Day the LSU gymnastics sensation posted two photos of a night out in Louisiana, yet they both appear to be from the previous evening.
Skenes and Dunne were first pictured alongside fellow Pirate Bubba Chandler and partner Allie Enright at a bar.
Dunne also posted a second image, which appeared to show a packed Bourbon Street hours before the deadly attack, along with a heartbroken emoji.
It is unclear when exactly the group were on Bourbon Street, though the large crowds - seemingly in fine spirits - would suggest it was prior to the attack.
Dunne's public romance with Skenes has become an indelible part of her personal brand
Dunne has modeled in the past for Nautica and could get into that line of work as a full-time job
Dunne will have eyes on her throughout the year as the Tigers try to repeat as national champs
Dunne has an name, image, and likeness value of $4.2million, per On3, making her the highest-earning woman competing in college sports by $2.7million over fellow LSU athlete Flau'jae Johnson.
While Dunne has yet to make appearing with Kelce a routine thing, her romance with Skenes has become an indelible part of her brand.
She watched his minor-league appearances in housing at LSU and made sure to travel the country with him as he ascended into the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation and then to an All-Star Game starter.
Skenes enters the 2025 MLB season as one of the best pitchers in baseball and has no signs of slowing down.
Although Opening Day and the end of the gymnastics season will likely run into each other, spending lots of time traveling the country to watch Skenes pitch seems like a perfect post-college present for Dunne to herself.
