BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA: LSU sensation Olivia Dunne, affectionately known as Livvy by her fans, found herself in utter disbelief when she discovered she had a greater Instagram following than the legendary swimmer Michael Phelps.
Livvy has become a household name among Gen Z, and her social media prowess and outspoken personality have been pivotal in building the strong presence she now enjoys.
What left Olivia Dunne in shock?
Olivia Dunne has achieved a remarkable milestone as one of the most highly valued collegiate athletes, with a valuation surpassing the million-dollar mark, primarily attributed to her exceptional gymnastics abilities and influential presence on social media.
In sharp contrast, Michael Phelps is an iconic American swimmer and widely acknowledged as the greatest Olympian in history.
His astounding achievements include an impressive collection of 33 medals from world championship competitions and an unmatched tally of 23 Olympic gold medals, underscoring his unparalleled dominance throughout his illustrious career.
The retired swimmer, however, currently lags behind Olivia Dunne by a substantial one million followers on Instagram. Phelps boasts 3.4 million followers on the social media platform, while Dunne has an impressive 4.4 million Instagram followers.
During a recent rapid-fire session with Sports Illustrated, Dunne was asked to guess who had the higher number of Instagram followers between herself and Michael Phelps. Without hesitation, she confidently responded, "Michael Phelps. For sure."
To her astonishment, Dunne was proven wrong as she discovered that she actually had more Instagram followers than the swimming legend, Michael Phelps, in this surprising turn of events. “No way, there’s no way. That’s crazy,” she said.
Fans react to Dunne's interaction with Sports Illustrated
At the time of writing, there were around 18k likes and more than 300 comments. A user wrote, "Don't women naturally get more followers."
A second user wrote, "This is just ridiculous what puberty does for boys." A third user wrote, "Hey crazy idea right what if and here me out it's because she's hot."
A fourth user wrote, "Who she is?" While a fifth user wrote, "It takes a greater object than this one to surpass the follower count."