It’s been over a year since Olivia “Livvy” Dunne walked away from gymnastics. The sport defined much of her childhood and early adulthood, before she became an internet star.

The former LSU gymnast, however, remains grateful to her roots.

The social media star opened up about retiring, her new acting career, and life away from competition in a recent interview. She promoted her fourth appearance in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and her upcoming role in the Baywatch reboot.

Gracing The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Dunne was asked whether she misses gymnastics.

“I do. It’s really bittersweet,” Dunne said. “I did gymnastics for 20 years. I’m only 23, so it was like my whole life.”

During her collegiate career, Dunne helped LSU win the 2024 NCAA national championship. She went on to suffer significant injuries in 2025, which forced her to retire from gymnastics.

Since then, she has been working on content creation, modeling, and entertainment projects.

The 23-year-old admitted it’s been a tough emotional journey to leave gymnastics behind, even as her success outside of sports continues to grow.

“I wanted to wear a pink sparkly leotard,” the gymnast-turned-model spoke about her early love of the sport. She also recalled being a hyper kid who was always climbing the furniture around the house.

“I think I was literally doing flips in the womb,” she said with a laugh.

In the last year, Dunne has grown into one of the biggest crossover stars to come out of college athletics. Most recently, she was back for her fourth consecutive shoot for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, in Loreto, Mexico.

“I feel like by year four, I’ve perfected my angles,” Dunne joked while discussing her growing comfort in front of the camera.

She also reflected on how different modeling was from gymnastics competitions.

“Year one, I was so young, and I was a gymnast, and it’s so different shooting in a bikini rather than a leotard,” she said.

In addition to her modeling career, Dunne is gearing up for her acting debut in Fox's Baywatch reboot alongside Hassie Harrison and Stephen Amell.

“Acting has really forced me out of my comfort zone,” she said.

“It was completely different,” Dunne said. “In gymnastics, usually you just go out there and perform. But this, I have to talk and perform and play somebody else rather than me."

Dunne also revealed that she auditioned for HBO's "White Lotus" before landing her upcoming credit. The influencer has also talked about wanting to star in horror films.

Livvy Dunne Balances Fame, Acting, and Life With Paul Skenes

Dunne spoke about her relationship with Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, whom she met when they both were at LSU.

“We were just two normal college kids at LSU,” Dunne said.

“It’s stressful but exciting to cheer for Skenes at baseball games,” she joked, adding that her fitness tracker highlights her anxiety during his starts.

Dunne is no longer a gymnast, but she’s flying high in sports and entertainment. And despite her retirement, she remains one of the most recognizable faces in college gymnastics.

Read more at the Gymnastics Digest!

Written by

Chitrak Mukherjee

Edited by

Sijo Paul