Paul Skenes may have taken part in a glamorous photoshoot recently, but the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher is well aware that he was not the star of the show.
Skenes and his girlfriend Livvy Dunne were featured in a GQ interview and photoshoot that was published on Wednesday. The two former LSU athletes posed for a variety of different shots and were interviewed about their highly publicized relationship.
After he allowed just 3 hits and no earned runs across 7 innings in a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, Skenes was asked what it feels like to be a GQ model. He laughed and said he expected to be needled by his teammates about it.
“I’m gonna get some flak in the locker room, I know that. I’m not looking forward to that,” Skenes said. “Yeah, I didn’t know what GQ was until the offer came. I’m glad I did it, I think. I mean, how’d I look? You guys think I looked good?”
A reporter then joked that Dunne and the couple’s dog looked better than Skenes in the feature. That led to a funny admission from the 22-year-old pitcher.
“Unfortunately. I mean, that’s what she does, so…” Skenes replied. “It was fun. It was very fun. It was on the one day in like a million years that it snowed in Baton Rouge, so it kind of worked out perfectly. We got some sweet pictures, but that is not my sphere.”
Paul Skenes on his GQ photoshoot:
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) April 2, 2025
"Um, yeah, I don’t know… I didn’t know what GQ was until the offer came, [but] glad I did it. I mean, how’d I look?!" 😅 pic.twitter.com/FR2gPP4ieH
Skenes, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, is used to having his photo taken, but not in a GQ-type setting. Dunne has taken part in plenty of modeling shoots and even recently appeared in the SI Swimsuit edition, so Skenes is right that “that’s what she does.”
You know who else took part in GQ photoshoots? Tom Brady, and he took a lot of flak for that also. Everything seemed to work out just fine for the legendary quarterback, so Skenes can feel confident letting it go in one ear and out the other.
