Riley Gaines' Unexpected Confession: Why She Avoids the Shower

College swimmer-turned-political activist Riley Gaines made a bizarre admission about her distaste for proper hygiene.  “I don’t love showering, to be totally honest with you,” Gaines, 26, said Wednesday, June 17, on “The Katie Miller Podcast.” “I really don’t.” Gaines, a former swimmer at the University of Kentucky, said her aversion to washing herself came from “spending so much time in the pool.” “For 18 years, it was practice before school, go to school, practice after school,” she said. “Especially [in] college, you’re basically a wet-headed rat for four years. You go to bed with wet hair, you wake up with wet hair. Your hair is never not wet.”

Gaines explained that her life was “constantly just consumed by water.” “I reached the point upon graduating where I was like, ‘I don’t have to do that anymore. I don’t have to submerge myself in water. I’m not going to,’” she said.  Gaines added, “I don’t love it. I don’t love washing my face. I’m pretty horrible at things like that.” She further explained to podcast host Miller, 34, that she will often “sleep in my makeup” and that it doesn’t make her feel “gross.” Gaines’ swimming career is most notable for what she did outside of the pool, rather than in the water.  In 2022, Gaines finished in a 5th-place tie with University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, the first openly transgender NCAA Division 1 athlete to win a national championship. Gaines has since become a vocal advocate for keeping trans women out of sports.

Gaines and her husband, Louis Barker, welcomed their first child together, daughter Margot, in September 2025. Since giving birth, Gaines said she’s had plenty of support to balance parenthood with her conservative activism.  “I have a village around me,” she told Miller, 34. “So my family — I've got my parents, my grandparents, my siblings — all of us live within five minutes of each other. So there's a lot of help there. And I don't think it can be overstated just how helpful my husband is in all of this, too. … All of the ups and downs and everything in between, he is like a constant throughout all of that.” Gaines pushed back against individuals who might be scared about getting pregnant, saying, “The biggest scam sold to new moms is that your life is going to change drastically, and for the worse.” “Yes, certainly, your life changes. It's inevitable,” she said. “But I would say that my life has changed for the better. Not just in the experiences that you have and the love that you have for your child, but I have changed for the better.”