PHOTO: Paul Skenes' girlfriend Olivia Dunne calls Paige Spiranac 'mother' as they twin in netted black dresses
Paul Skenes is the talk of the MLB after his lights-out performance against the Chicago Cubs last week. With Skenes making a seamless transition into the majors thus far, optimism is high in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, his girlfriend, Olivia Dunne, has been very busy herself.
Aside from celebrating the LSU Tigers women's gymnastics national championship, Dunne has been at two launch parties for SI Swimsuit. At Saturday's event, the social media star met up with Paige Spiranac, with both wearing netted black ensembles. Dunne took to her IG stories and called Spiranac "mother" in a snap of the two together.
Dunne was seen with supermodel Brooks Nader at Thursday's party, along with a host of other celebrities.
Olivia Dunne 'channeled her nerves into excitement' for Paul Skenes' debut
While Paul Skenes excelled in the Pittsburgh Pirates' 9-3 win over the Cubs on Friday, there were some nerves leading up to his debut the week before. After watching Jackson Holliday struggle with the Baltimore Orioles before being reassigned, there were concerns a similar fate could await Skenes and potentially damage his confidence.
Those nerves, while unfounded, were also felt to some degree by Olivia Dunne, who mentioned the same in a third-inning interview during the broadcast:
“I had some nerves creeping in at first, but I kind of channeled that into excitement more than nerves. I just have the most confidence in him ever, so I trust in him and what he’s put in, and I’m just so excited.”
It's certainly an exciting time for Dunne and Skenes, and the Pirates fanbase is showing its support for them.
“It’s amazing, the support here is awesome," Dunne said. "Pittsburgh has been so welcoming. Just the people wearing Air Force stuff [Skenes’ first college before transferring to LSU], LSU stuff, wearing Skenes jerseys; the support here is unreal, and I love it.”
Fans will doubtless be paying attention to Paul Skenes' next start, which is expected to be on Thursday against the San Francisco Giants. With fans making comparisons, albeit a tad early, between Skenes-Dunne and Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce, the two 21-year-olds are a topic of much discussion online.