Shawn Johnson and Andrew East were married in 2016, but how and where did they first meet?
Shawn Johnson first met Andrew East while she was performing on the television show Dancing With The Stars. She was introduced to her future husband by his brother, Guy. The couple were first introduced in Los Angeles in 2012.
Read on to learn more about this high-performing couple’s history.
Athletic Love
Shawn Johnson and Andrew East have both been fantastic athletes in their own right. Johnson, referred to as America’s Sweetheart on occasion, found her fame in artistic gymnastics. As of 2012, Johnson had retired from the US Olympic team, but not before a string of success in the sport.
While Johnson made her name being agile and svelte, East went the other direction. As a long snapper for a wide of teams in the NFL, it was his duty to be broad, and well-built. From 2015 to 2018, East played for or practiced with eight separate NFL teams. However, from August 2019, he was officially a free agent and open to offers.
While he hasn’t seen as much success as his incredibly talented wife, he is a fine player in his own regard. Both East and Johnson started young, with the former finding success in high school in Indiana. Johnson, on the other hand, began her gymnastic pursuits as young as six years old.
Where It All Began
In 2012, Andrew East’s brother insisted he meet Shawn Johnson after working with her at the London Olympics. He was sure the pair would strike a spark, and was in fact correct. It was a few months later when Andrew East flew out to Los Angeles to meet Johnson while she appeared on Dancing With The Stars.
Reportedly, the couple hit it off immediately, with Johnson saying, “I thought it was insane,” allegedly while smiling from ear to ear. However, they drifted temporarily, before linking up again six months later.
Around a year after their first meeting, in 2013, the pair set out on their first official date. Johnson made the journey to Nashville, Tennessee, reportedly cementing their love at first sight. It was just four months later that Johnson moved to Nashville to be with her new-found partner.
In July of 2015, East proposed to Johnson, and the pair married just under a year later, also in Tennessee. They were a long way from that first introduction in 2012, but as East’s brother had thought, they were apparently destined to be together.
Family Life
In October of 2017, Johnson revealed that she had tragically suffered a miscarraige. This was a knock to the couple, but they managed to conceive again in 2019, announcing in April another pregnancy. Shawn Johnson posted a picture on Instagram of the couple together with their newborn baby.
Later that year, on October 29th, they gave birth to a daughter – Drew Hazel East. Since then the family has enjoyed life in Tennessee, the place of their first date, and their wedding. Johnson was more than happy to move from her midwestern roots to the south, but retained her small-town nature.
The couple started a YouTube channel after their wedding, to show their activities and adventures as a family. It documents their travels and life as a trio, and offers a candid look into the life of these world-class athletes. You can see the trailer for this YouTube channel below.
Owing to her formal retirement from professional gymnastics, Johnson also found the time to pen novels, releasing three in the space of eight years. She’s also appeared in numerous campaigns for national and global brands, and has advocated for several charitable causes and organisations.
Together, they make a dynamic duo, and they prove that love at first sight is certainly a reality.