Livvy Dunne Explains to WWE's Stephanie McMahon How She Grew Instagram to 5M Followers

Former LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne provided some insight into her rise to social media fame during a discussion with former WWE CEO Stephanie McMahon on Thursday.

Appearing on What's Your Story? with Stephanie McMahon (beginning at the 14:20 mark), Dunne talked about how she grew her social media following, particularly on Instagram where she now has 5.4 million followers:

"My social media took off during COVID. I actually started social media when I was probably 10 years old, I think. That's when I remember I downloaded Instagram, and ever since then I was just in love with looking at the analytics. What people liked, what people didn't. ...

"During quarantine I got stuck at my grandma's condo in Florida. I kept scrolling on TikTok, my mom's like, 'If you're going to be sitting there scrolling, you might as well create something. Do something while everyone's bored.'"

Dunne took her mom's advice to heart, and her social media presence exploded thanks to the regularity of her posts, as well as the subject matter:

"I started posting during quarantine consistently. That's the key. ... It just blew up from there. I'd flip around at the beach. It was kind of like morphing my passion, gymnastics, and bringing it to where I was stuck during quarantine. ...

"I feel like maybe it was just like a happy part of people's day, seeing someone flipping around at the beach. And then I got to college after and people couldn't believe that I was an actual gymnast."

Dunne, 22, starred for five seasons on the LSU Tigers' gymnastics team, winning a national title in the team competition at the 2024 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships.

She retired from gymnastics at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, but Dunne's success on social media has earned her numerous opportunities across multiple fields.

Dunne was featured in the 2023 and 2024 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and she was one of four women chosen to be a cover model for the 2025 edition.

She was also named to the prestigious Time 100 Creators list for 2025 as one of the most influential digital voices in the world.

Dunne is perhaps even more recognizable than her boyfriend, Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star pitcher Paul Skenes, which speaks to the following she has gained over the past several years.