‘Go to Church’: What Shawn Johnson East, Husband Wish They Knew in Their 20s

Published: April 11, 2024

‘Go to Church’: What Shawn Johnson East, Husband Wish They Knew in Their 20s

By Movieguide® Contributor

Christian Olympian Shawn Johnson East and her husband, Andrew East, are sharing what they wish they knew in their twenties.

Shawn’s advice? “Get out of the tanning bed,” “Drink more water” and “Don’t go to bed without watching your face and putting on moisturizer,” she said in an April 5 YouTube video.

Next, “Wear sunscreen always” and “Stop trying to please others.”

Shawn also thinks everyone needs to know about practical things like finance management.

“Take a class on taxes…Learn about life. Learn about paying bills. Learn how to change a tire. Learn your directions. Learn how to get places without GPS,” she said.

“Learn about credit cards and debt and everything—your credit scores,” she said. “Ladies, ob-gyn. Take your dog to the vet.”

She advises that women date intentionally. They shouldn’t make a list of qualities they want in a partner.

“Throw your list away and, like, give more people a chance.” She told Andrew, “I ended up giving us a chance, and you were like the best, most perfect type of person ever. And had I not given you a chance because of my list, we wouldn’t have our babies. We wouldn’t be married.”

“Bad boys are called bad boys for a reason. Stay away…Find yourself a nice man that treats you well,” she added.

And “Fad diets never work…Study nutrition or get a nutritionist early in life. I think that will save you a lot of struggle, especially with… social culture.”

Shawn thinks that pets are important for developing responsibility.

“Get a dog sooner in life. It helps mature you,” she said.

“That’s right. Cheers to that,” Andrew said as he and Shawn playfully clinked forks.

Shawn advises therapy for those who need it and that women shouldn’t go out alone at night.

“You’re in your 20s. You’re probably going to go out with your friends to bars late at night…Let’s just be smart,” she said.

“Don’t go out by yourself. Don’t leave drinks unattended,” she continued. “Share your location with someone, and always tell someone when you should be back home.”

Next, “Take your multivitamins,” and lastly, “Go to church!”

Unlike Shawn’s practical list, Andrew’s is a little more on the thoughtful side.

“My first advice…is remember that it’s a long game,” Andrew said after he and Shawn prayed over their meal in the video. “I would say second piece of advice is choose your friends wisely, ‘cause they have more influence over you than you know.”

“My third piece of advice is just know that if you keep on going, it’s probably going to turn out okay, so just wake up another day. Put one foot in front of the other,” he continued. “My next advice is don’t think so much about what other people think about you.”

He also wishes his younger self paid more attention to what his feelings told him.

“When you don’t feel at home, you should, like, listen to that, if that’s a pattern…When I was playing football like, I didn’t feel great in the NFL. I didn’t feel like that was my thing ever,” he said.

And “make yourself comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

“Does that directly contradict my last piece of advice? Yes, but is there a deep duality to many things in life? Also yes,” he said.

He believes all the content he took in as a young person impacted his psyche.

“Realize…that the music you listen to and the books you read, I think, subconsciously program you in ways that you won’t understand for years. Like it kind of builds this background track of life,” he said.

“So just be aware of that and be intentional with it… You can be curious but not be influenced. I’m just saying I’m really thankful that my mom had us listen to a certain type of music growing up and now that’s like what I will hum to myself and that actually matters.”

His next piece of advice comes from the TED LASSO show.

“I like how he phrased it: be curious and not judgmental,” he said.

“Realize everything compounds,” Andrew continued. “Relationships. Habits. Health. Money all of it does.”

“So, like, keep going, but also your bad habits compound, so just keep an eye out.”

The former NFL player believes people’s 20s are an opportune time to try new things.

“I think in your 20s, kind of be a yes man. Obviously, you need boundaries and like, don’t say yes to bad things, but like, try a bunch of things out 100%.” And “Call your mom and dad.”

“In whatever type of relationship, there’s always room to be respectful. Even if there’s a splitting of ways or like, hurt feelings, so be really thoughtful,” he advised.

“This is almost like a watch your words advice. Be thoughtful with them, and even if there’s like, something that needs to be addressed that’s uncomfortable, you should address it but be really thoughtful like that.”

His next advice is actually from “Papa East,” Andrew’s grandpa.

He “said anything you do, do it with such excellence that you’d be proud to sign your name to.”

Not to leave his other grandfather out, he shared a piece of advice from “Grandpa Palmer,” too.

He “always thought it was important to maintain a sense of humor,” Andrew said.

Andrew’s next advice is “Journal.” And finally, “How you organize your room actually matters,” he finished.

The Easts recently opened up about their upcoming trip to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Shawn and Andrew are looking forward to the Games, but their three young children are more eager to go to Disneyland.

“I don’t think they’re going to appreciate or understand any of it,” Shawn told E! News. “Which we understand. We’re going to Disneyland Paris. I think they’re most excited for that.”

“We’re so excited,” she said. “We’re going to tour around Europe for almost five weeks. We’re going to do it all. We’re doing trains, planes, automobiles and boats.”

Movieguide® recently reported on Shawn’s reflection on her time as a gymnast:

She wrote, “Gymnastics is a very humbling sport. You literally have to fall on your face hundreds of times before you ever have a chance of succeeding. It’s just a reality you learn early on. Now, combine that with the pressure of being on the world’s largest stage, with the world’s toughest critics, and that is an equation for the greatest life lesson of all. Just like at the Olympics, people in life will always judge you, critique you, try to tell you that you aren’t capable, or tell you you’re second-best [to someone else]. They will tell you not to go for your dreams or they will try to persuade you that it’s impossible, but I can tell you from experience that they are all wrong. The greatest life lesson I ever learned was to tune out the world, live out my passion and respect everyone else’s passions around me.”