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Popular 21-year-old LSU gymnast Olivia “Livvy” Dunne says she has “had a hard time” figuring out her fame and “finding balance” since becoming famous.
Part of that has to do with how crazed fans can be when they see her out in public or competing in gymnastics for the Tigers.
For her final year competing in collegiate gymnastics, Dunne says LSU has “really helped” with making her feel more safe.
“Actually, we’ve got it settled down a bit,” Dunne told People in a recent interview.
“We haven’t competed since last season, so we’ll see what this season holds. But after the incident in Utah that happened last year, we now have a security guard that travels with the LSU gymnastics team.”
Dunne is referring to the Tigers’ meet with the Utah Utes, in which she did not compete, where things got so out of hand that the LSU gymnastics team had to move their bus and get a police escort.
“The past few years, juggling NIL or ever since my sophomore year, since the summer of 2021, I’ve definitely had a hard time finding balance,” Dunne added.
“That’s really important because if you don’t have balance, that can affect your mental health. I finally feel like I got a grasp on it this year. It’s just compartmentalizing things mentally is very important in my everyday routine.”
Her skyrocketing fame hasn’t been all negative, of course.
@livvy Khaleesi 👑> #foryou #got ♬ original sound – TAYLER ⋆｡°✩ ♡✩°｡⋆
“Last year was probably one of the most rewarding and most difficult years of my life,” she said. “Just having so many eyes on me was such a new feeling, but it was pretty cool at the same time.”
Her current relationship with former LSU pitcher and number one overall pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft, Paul Skenes, certainly isn’t going to diminish the spotlight that’s been placed on her.
“I’ve definitely learned over the past few years that, this past year mostly, that keeping certain things private is okay,” she claims, adding she and Skenes also “try to keep things private.”
@livvy Truly liberating. #foryou #lsu #baseball ♬ original sound – SpongeBob background music