Shawn Johnson & Andrew East | Inside Reality TV’s Special Forces: Marriage, Faith & Survival!

Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe

PodcastOne

Society & Culture, Tv & Film, Comedy, Talk Radio

4.4 • 21.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

#880. Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson and former NFL player Andrew East are back on the pod — and they’re spilling on their boldest challenge yet: competing side by side on Special Forces. From brutal days in the Sahara desert to the heartbreak of leaving their three kids at home, Shawn and Andrew reveal how the show pushed them to their absolute limits — and what it uncovered about resilience, teamwork, and their marriage.

And just when you think it can’t get more real, the conversation takes a powerful turn. Kaitlyn, Shawn, and Andrew open up about faith, doubt, and the search for hope in a world that can feel overwhelming. It’s raw, unfiltered, surprisingly hilarious, and guaranteed to leave you thinking long after the episode ends.

If you’re LOVING this podcast, please follow and leave a rating and review below! PLUS, FOLLOW OUR PODCAST INSTAGRAM HERE!

Thank you to our Sponsors! Check out these deals!

Boulevard: For a limited time, Boulevard is offering new customers 20% off your first year subscription. Learn more at JOINBLVD.com.

Figs: If you're in healthcare—or shopping for someone who is—you can get 15% off your first order at wearfigs.com with the code FIGSRX.

Progressive: Visit Progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

(10:35) — Andrew drops 17 pounds in the desert—what they were actually eating on Special Forces
(25:12) — Reality stars aren’t always what headlines say—certain cast members blew them away behind the scenes.
(34:58) — Kaitlyn’s mental state hits peak chaos the last time Shawn & Andrew came over… you’ll laugh and relate
(45:10) — Deep, raw, and honest: has their relationship with God ever wavered?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode of Off the Vine is brought to you by Boulevard. For a limited time, Boulevard is offering new customers 20% off your first year subscription. Learn more at J-O-I-N-B-L-V-D.com. Figs. If you're in health care or you're shopping for someone who is, you can get 15% off your first order at wherefigs.com with the code figs rx and progressive visit progressive
0:23.4	dot com to see if you could save on car insurance you're listening to off the vine with
0:31.7	kately bristow hey vinos real quick if you are listening right now which obviously you are, you wouldn't be hearing this, can you hit the subscribe or follow button on whatever platform you're on?
0:42.8	Please, that one simple thing helps more than you even realize it allows me to keep growing on this podcast and making these episodes the best they can possibly be obviously for you.
0:53.4	That's the only favorite I'm going to ever ask, okay? It truly means the world to me. Thank you. Now let's get into it. Hey, everybody, welcome to Off the Vine. I'm your host. Oh, my toes are showing. Caitlin Bristow. Can you see my toes? Okay. I'm just going to keep rolling. Today we have on the podcast, former gold medal Olympianist. Is that how you say it,
1:12.5	Olympianist? Wow, I'm really butchering this. Today on the pod, we have Olympic gold medalist
1:18.2	and my friend Sean Johnson and her husband, Andrew East, I guess we could say former NFL player
1:23.1	for doing titles here. We talk all about their time on special forces, what their biggest
1:27.6	challenges were individually and as a couple. And then the conversation just took a turn into,
1:33.0	I think we went to church. I think they took me to church. So stay tuned for that. But enjoy my
1:38.3	conversation with Sean and Andrew. I always love talking to them. Oh, I love that you guys
1:42.2	rescued a sweet new baby. I know. Let's start with that. Okay. We didn't have enough chaos. Aw, I love that you guys rescued a sweet new baby.
1:44.6	I know.
1:45.7	Let's start with that.
1:46.0	Okay.
1:58.5	We didn't have enough chaos. Yeah, I was like, so three kids and a dog and you're like, what else can we do? Why not another? Well, you probably went on special forces and you're like, we can do anything. Let's get a dog. Was it right before? Was it after? Right before. I was right before.
1:59.5	Right before we left.
2:00.9	Oh my gosh.
2:02.0	Adopted a dog and was like,
2:03.9	see you in a couple of weeks.
2:00.9	Honestly. after? Right before. I was right before. Right before we left. Oh my gosh.
2:20.0	Adopted a dog and was like, see you in a couple weeks. Honestly, though, so here's the timeline of how this happened. Okay. We have a 13-year-old golden retriever. Love Nash. He's the sweetest. We got him like two months into dating. John picked them up. Oh, really? His first night he stayed with us was in my dorm room at Vanderbilt. Oh, yeah.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from PodcastOne, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of PodcastOne and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.