LSU Gymnast Livvy Dunne Travels With Bodyguards After Being Mobbed by Groups of Boys — Police Weren’t Enough

Olivia "Livvy" Dunne doesn't travel without backup anymore.

As the LSU gymnast prepares to enter her senior season after a meteoric rise to fame across social media over the last two years, she has also been forced to adjust to increasing privacy and safety concerns amid waves of obsessed fans.

During a trip to Salt Lake City for LSU's season opener against Utah back in January, a horde of teenage boys waited outside of Utah's Jon M Huntsman Center for Dunne to exit the venue. The group chanted wildly at her and her teammates, seen in footage posted by Olympic silver medalist and color commentator Samantha Peszek on X (formerly Twitter).

Police even had to stand in between the crowd of boys and the LSU team bus to prevent them from swarming inside the vehicle to get to Dunne, according to Utah Athletics.

But Dunne won't just be relying on police intervention anymore. Dunne says that in the aftermath of the incident, her and her team have taken the necessary precautions to fend off obsessed fans over the last year, according to People Magazine.

"Actually, we've got it settled down a bit," Dunne said of the safety concerns. "We haven't competed since last season, so we'll see what this season holds. But after the incident in Utah that happened last year, we now have a security guard that travels with the LSU gymnastics team."

Dunne has had to make several other adjustments to her life and routine for the sake of privacy and safety. She had to stop going to in-person classes, she told Elle Magazine in July.

“There were some scares in the past, and I just want to be as careful as possible," Dunne said. "I don’t want people to know my daily schedule and where I am.”

Dunne has 4.4 million followers on Instagram, 7.4 million followers on TikTok and an NIL valuation of $3.2 million annually, according to On3.

She is heading into her senior season at LSU and will open the season at home against Ohio State on Jan. 5. She recorded a season-high of 9.850 on bars at last year's SEC Championships and was selected as a WCGA Academic All-American her freshman year in 2021.