Livvy Dunne says Paul Skenes has been all in on her next move. In an exclusive interview at Fox’s Upfronts in New York on May 11, the 23-year-old said her boyfriend has been supportive as she joins Baywatch, a reboot that is scheduled to premiere in 2027.
“Paul has been nothing but supportive of this,” Dunne said, adding that both of them want to do their jobs well. “And he has his jobs and I have my jobs so we both want to execute at our best ability no matter what it is.”
Dunne said neither Skenes nor her family really knew what she was stepping into when she signed on. “I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into—neither did my family or Paul,” she said, describing the project as a new challenge after years built around gymnastics. The story of her Baywatch role lands as she shifts into acting from a sport that left little room for error and even less room for doubt.
That is part of why she said the move has gone more smoothly than she expected. Dunne said she has learned “so much” from everyone around her on set, especially the women she has been working with, including Brooks Nader, Shay Mitchell and Hassie Harrison. She also said gymnastics has prepared her for pressure in a way acting has not had to match yet. “I would say gymnastics is a lot more physically demanding than acting but acting is a challenge in itself,” she said.
For Dunne, though, the biggest surprise may be how familiar the stress feels. She said she does not get nervous for either gymnastics or acting because she trusts the training behind both. “I don’t really get nervous for either one,” she said. That confidence has carried her from competition floors to a TV set that will not reach viewers until 2027, but already marks one of the clearest pivots of her career.
Dunne has been dating Skenes since 2023, and her comments suggest the relationship has settled into a simple division of labor: he handles baseball, she handles the next chapter. Baywatch is still ahead, but the work has already started, and she sounds more focused than uncertain about what comes next.
