Olivia Dunne Reveals the Celebrity That Had Her Starstruck at the ESPYs

The SI Swimsuit model and LSU gymnast spotted a fellow brand alumni and athlete at the Los Angeles event on July 11.

Olivia Dunne / Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Olivia Dunne is an elite gymnast, the highest-paid female college athlete in the country, a two-time SI Swimsuit model and social media star with millions of followers. But, there’s still a handful of celebrities that the 21-year-old gets totally starstruck by. While on the red carpet at the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards in Los Angeles, the New Jersey native was asked a series of rapid fire questions by ESPN.

Dunne, who was photographed in Puerto Rico for her franchise debut last year, and traveled to Portugal with Ben Watts for her rookie feature in the 2024 magazine revealed that she’s been mistaken for actress Madelyn Cline a few times. She also shared that close friend, mentor and Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin was her favorite athlete growing up.

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Dunne admitted that spotting Serena Williams, a fellow athlete and fellow SI Swimsuit star at the July 11 Dolby Theater event was a highlight and fangirl-worthy moment. We totally understand! The mom of two and 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion looked absolutely stunning in her five separate looks of the evening and she’s a true GOAT.

The content creator just announced she’ll be returning for a fifth and final season competing with the Tigers, who secured LSU’s first-ever NCAA women’s gymnastcs championship title this year. She’s incredibly proud of the attention she is bringing to women’s sports, and works hard to be a trailblazer in the age of NIL deals.

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“As a female athlete, I hope I can bring attention to how amazing college sports are and how hard college athletics are. People don’t see [behind the scenes] every day of my college athletics, and it's very time consuming. In gymnastics, a lot of people only watch the Olympics every four years, and I feel like I’ve been able to use my platform to bring an audience to college gymnastics, and people are starting to see how amazing all these gymnasts are,” she shared. “I want to show young girls that you can have it all, and you don’t need to choose between whatever it is you’re passionate about. You can be passionate about music, art. You don’t need to pick and choose. You can do it all and be successful. I think you need to set your own expectations for success and dream big.”