Olivia Dunne Sweetly Celebrates Paul Skenes As He Wins 2025 NL Cy Young Award

The power couple were all smiles after the announcement, cuddling up to celebrate the exciting moment.

Olivia Dunne and Paul Skenes / Lucas Casel/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Olivia Dunne and Paul Skenes have had one seriously incredible year—and that’s putting it lightly.

The retired gymnast and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher have experienced an amazing amount of wins over the last few months, both personally and professionally. Skenes had a record-breaking season with the Pirates, cementing his place as a fan favorite. Meanwhile, Dunne was selected as one of four SI Swimsuit cover models for the 2025 issue and continued to grow her ever-expanding brand.

Still, Skenes’s latest victory was enough to make him smile—which longtime fans know is saying quite a bit!

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A full-circle moment

This week, Skenes was honored with the 2025 NL Cy Young Award. According to the official MLB website, the pitcher was “the unanimous National League honoree by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in results revealed Wednesday night on MLB Network.”

Skenes celebrated the announcement seated side by side with Dunne and surrounded by family. In a quick clip shared of the moment, Skenes smiled as his name was read, pumping his fists in excitement before being embraced by Dunne, who beamed with pride.

And this special honor was actually a humorous full-circle moment, which MLB and ESPN pointed out on their respective Instagram accounts, as Skenes had quite a different reaction when he won Rookie of the Year honors back in 2024. As seen in the clip from last year, the pitcher was more stoic, remaining mostly straight-faced as Dunne cheered him on.

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Fans & famous friends react

Naturally, fans and famous friends of the baseball superstar were quick to celebrate his special honor—and they were also quick with their jokes about the difference between the two clips, with Dunne herself even getting in on the fun:

“New reaction unlocked 🔓,” Dunne penned in the comment section on Instagram.

“He def practiced this in the mirror,” Matt Szczur joked.

“😂😂😂 Hysterical stuff here from Paul,” Ben Verlander declared.

“Hey bro, try not to be too excited. Keep it together,” one fan added.

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Humor & heart

And a good sense of humor appears to play a big role in Dunne and Skenes’s relationship, with the former often posting jokes and references about her longtime beau on her own social media accounts.

For example, just this past week, a fan shared the differences between a photo Dunne took of the fan and Skenes versus a photo Skenes took of the fan and Dunne—and let’s just say it's a good thing Skenes pursued pitching and not portrait photography. Dunne hopped in the Instagram comments under the photos, humorously writing, “Imagine having him to take your Instagram pics...”

The two also took the silly route this year with their Halloween costumes, choosing to embody the comedic pairing of Borat and Pamela Anderson, posting several in-character TikToks to the delight of their fans.

Learn more about their relationship here!

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