Olympian Shawn Johnson East on Building a Life Beyond Medals, Body Image Battles & Overcoming Her Biggest Failure

Real Pod

Dear Media

Health & Fitness, So Much To Say, Athlete, Taylor Swift, Perfectionist, Eating Disorder, Friendship, Self Help, Self-improvement, Self Care, Athletes, Mental Health, Overcoming Eating Disorders, Body Neutrality, Sports, Education, Body Image, Recovery, Perfectionism, Real Talk

4.8 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

She’s one of the most beloved gymnasts with millions of followers online: Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East is here to open up like never before! Shawn shares the fears and near-death experiences she faced competing alongside her husband, Andrew, on the upcoming season of Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test and how it compares to the Olympics. She opens up about the career failure that might have led to her Olympic gold medal, the secret body image struggles she battled as one of the world’s top gymnasts, and how she ultimately healed her relationship with her body. Plus, Shawn reveals her advice for learning to love the grind so fulfillment comes from the process (not just the outcome), the three practices that keep her marriage strong, and her best tips for hosting and building community. Tune in to see a whole new side of one of the world’s greatest athletes, get inspired to try new things, and take your relationships to the next level.

Instagram: @shawnjohnson

YouTube: Andrew & Shawn

Podcast: Couple Things

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast is a dear media production.
0:04.4	Welcome to RealPod. It's your host, Victoria Garrick Brown, and this is the podcast where we hold nothing back.
0:11.4	Oh, so we're getting deep, huh? I really cried for 12 days straight.
0:15.9	Why do I want to be perfect? There's nothing in my life that is perfect.
0:19.3	Every week, I'll bring you honest, unfiltered,
0:22.0	and eye-opening conversations to help uncover the real in all of us. I crave the type of content
0:27.5	that you're talking about. I actually felt insecure. Oh my God, I'm not going to cry. Let me just
0:31.8	unload everything. New episodes every Wednesday. Leave those filters at the door because it's time to get real.
0:44.5	Hello everybody and welcome back to RealPod. You are going to love this episode because I loved
0:50.7	recording it. It was so inspiring. I felt motivated to better my fitness and my business
0:57.7	and how I approach my everyday life. I felt inspired to upgrade how I approach my friendships and my
1:04.0	marriage. Sean Johnson East is here. She is a former Olympian. She has an Olympic gold medal.
1:10.8	And it's safe to say she's mastered a lot of
1:12.8	things in her life. And I'm so grateful we get to hear from her today. You probably watched her
1:17.0	compete in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where she won a gold on the beam and took home silver medals
1:23.8	in floor, team, and all around. She got four Olympic medals sitting in her home
1:29.2	somewhere. After she retired in 2012, she went on to compete in dancing with the stars, which she
1:34.3	won. She built up her social media channels, starting her podcast couple things with her former
1:39.8	NFL star husband, Andrew East, and has amassed millions and millions of followers online.
1:45.3	And excitingly, Sean and her husband, Andrew, are competing on this year's season of Fox Special
1:52.0	Forces World's Toughest Test. I love this show so much. I have watched every season.
1:57.3	It's a series in which household names endure the harshest, toughest challenges from the
	...

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