As Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson East navigates life with daughter Drew, 5, and sons Jett, 3, and Bear, 14 months, she’s learned that raising kids in the spotlight is a careful balancing act.
So it’s a good thing the athlete is literally one of the best in the world.
That’s not to say the 33-year-old—who won gold in balance beam at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, and collected three silver medals for her floor routine and the team and all-around competitions—feels she always scores a perfect 10.
Take a recent Waffle House outing near their home in Nashville.
Out with husband Andrew East and their brood after church, “Two different girls came up and asked for pictures, probably 8, 9 or 10 years old,” Shawn recounted in an exclusive interview with E! News. “Drew was so confused, and she’s like, ‘Mommy, why did they want a picture with you?'”
Truthfully, said Shawn, she’s still cooking up an answer.
“I’m not ashamed,” she stressed of receiving attention for her athletic achievements. “It’s the most proud I’ve been when I was in that career.”
But as she works out how exactly to explain fame to her kids, “Trying to make it not about Mommy and it doesn’t change anything is something I’m trying to figure out.”
Most crucially, “I don’t want her to think it entitles us to anything,” Shawn stressed. “I just want to navigate it in the right way.”
But she required no such careful contemplation when Drew landed her first cartwheel on the beam. As you might imagine, the gymnast flipped.
“I don’t mean this in a harsh way, I could care less if it’s gymnastics,” Shawn recalled of the moment, noting that former NFL longsnapper Andrew feels the same about their kids potentially taking to the gridiron one day. “There’s something so incredibly endearing and makes you feel so proud as a parent, to see them actually excited about something, and to come home and be like, ‘Oh, Mom, I did this.'”
While the idea that Drew could be following in her chalk-dusted steps is sweet, “To see them proud of themselves is the greatest feeling in the entire world,” insisted Shawn. “So it was so much less about gymnastics or the beam or cartwheel or whatever, as it was that she was so excited to tell me about something. Just being able to celebrate that for her and celebrate that for our kids is what I love.”
Learning how to foster each of her kids’ passions “is so challenging,” Shawn acknowledged. “And it’s something that you truly have to intentionally work on every single day.”
But when it comes to another monumental parenting task—ensuring they fuel up with enough healthy nutrients—she’s unlocked a bit of a cheat code.
After years of piecemealing together vitamins, probiotics and other nutrients for her little ones, Shawn floated the idea for a kid-focused greens powder to Beam’s co-founder Matt Lombardi, known better as Uncle Matt to Drew, Jett and Bear.
“He ended up creating something for my children, not to be mass-produced,” she said of the vitamin-, folate-, calcium-, and zinc-packed powder. And after much tinkering, the Kids All-in-One Superpowder her children have been adding to their nightly chocolate milk for months now is available for others to purchase.
As for the test audience, “They love it,” Shawn said of Drew and Jett, “and they even know it’s their vitamins but they have never questioned that. They just want their chocolate milk.”
Want your own dose of sweetness? You’ll flip for these adorable pics of Shawn and her sporty brood.
Welcome Baby Bear
Shawn and Andrew appear with their third baby, son Bear, in December 2023.
Baby No. 3
Shawn Johnson East and Andrew East welcomed their third child on Dec. 12, 2023.
Moment With Daddy
The former NFL player already has a sweet connection with baby No. 3.
Sibling Bonding
The newborn shared a hug with big sister Drew, born in 2019, and brother Jett, born in 2021.
Bear-y Cute
The gymnast captioned this cute shot of her thirdborn with the bear emoji.
Family of Four
Shawn and Andrew, who tied the knot in 2016, posed with Drew and Jett. She captioned the 2022 portrait, “Just the Hulk and his family.”
A House Divided
For Halloween 2023, the guys chose their fighters as the girls went for magical vibes.
Taking After Dad
“Well… can’t make this up,” Shawn wrote in August 2022. “Little dude has a new favorite toy. Giggles, smiles, won’t put it down.”
Red, White and Baby Blue
The fam was ready for fireworks on July 4, 2022.
Pool Time
Shawn and Andrew relaxed with a swim alongside their kids.
Struttin’ Her Stuff
Drew modeled her one-piece swimsuit during a family pool day.
