EXCLUSIVEShawn Johnson and Andrew East Make Sure to 'Connect' With Each Other Despite Their Busy Schedules: 'We've Become a Good Team'
Shawn Johnson and Andrew East exclusively tell OK! about putting their relationship first amid the chaos.
Dec. 23 2024, Published 12:32 p.m. ET
Shawn Johnson and Andrew East may have their hands full with three kids — Drew, Jett and Barrett — but they still make sure to put one another first.
"We've become a good team. It's been really fun. We heard an analogy: there's the kite and there's a kite holder in every relationship, so one person is usually off chasing dreams or being busy and the other one has to hold down the fort. I think we've kind of passed that back and forth with each other, and it's worked out pretty well," the football star, 33, exclusively tells OK! alongside his wife, Johnson, 32, as the pair discuss making last-minute gift-giving magic in their new collaboration with Amazon Same-Day Delivery.
The pair share three kids.
"I'm the kite holder, but we do date night every Thursday and have daily check-ins where the kids are down and we can have uninterrupted conversation for five or ten minutes every evening. We try to make room for connection with each other," Johnson adds.
The duo also have a "blast" showing off their comedic chops on social media with their videos. "We laugh a lot," the gymnast shares. "They're all Andrew's ideas. I have nothing to do with it!"
"I ask Shawn to do some ridiculous stuff," East adds. "It's so fun. We lucked out because people who watch our stuff are so supportive, so it's a fun thing for us to share certain things. We've formed a community online."
The duo traveled to Europe with their three kids this past summer.
The couple, who got married in 2016, also have a rule when shooting content: they can't post anything in the specific moment when it is happening.
"We try to be present. We try to take pictures of life so we can watch it back, but we never take pictures in the moment because we're going to share it right away," the mom-of-three explains. "Not all of our home videos will be sharable, but some of them, we're like, 'That's really fun,' and people will really resonate with that."
Though the athletes have done "several pilots for reality shows," it's not for them. "I'm appreciative of our setup," East says.
"I think social media is our own reality show," Johnson adds.
The couple makes sure to connect amid their busy schedules.
In the meantime, Johnson and East are loving being a family-of-five after welcoming son Barrett, a.k.a. “Bear," in December 2023. "It is wild! We went from swimming laps with ease to treading water," the Olympian quips. "Not in a bad way! I cannot imagine our family without Bear. It's the most perfect complete feeling I've ever felt in my life. We have our family, and we're done having kids, but it's also the most challenging phase of life because I feel like we're so full in the sense of making sure we put enough effort to foster every child's passions, dreams, emotions and development. I feel like we're maxed that way for capacity, but it feels great!"
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Additionally, the two eldest kids are "obsessed" with Bear, which makes it even sweeter to witness. "When you see your kids take care of another kid, it's so cool," Johnson gushes. "Because of their ages, Drew and Jett are a package deal, while Bear is more with mom and dad, but you can see the connection and bond they're forming with their baby brother. They'll be a trio soon."
To bring the magic of Amazon Same-Day Delivery to life this holiday season, the 'Couple Things' podcast hosts acted as Amazon Flex Drivers for the day and raced against the clock (and each other!) to personally fulfill Same-Day Delivery orders to local families and gymnastics students in their hometown of Nashville.
East adds, "It's an honor and such a blessing and also a pinch-me moment for us to be able to work with such a cool company and get to meet such cool people. Those kids were so much cooler than we were! We got to meet the kids, who were big fans of Shawn and gymnastics in general, and then there was a little boy who is a huge football fan."
In the meantime, the brood have a busy holiday season coming up — but they wouldn't be able to do it without the help of Amazon Same-Day Delivery.
To bring the magic of Amazon Same-Day Delivery to life this holiday season, the “Couple Things” podcast hosts acted as Amazon Flex Drivers for the day and raced against the clock (and each other!) to personally fulfill Same-Day Delivery orders to local families and gymnastics students in their hometown of Nashville. The first two deliveries were made to patients of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, where the all-star couple likes to visit to cheer up patients in their free time. For the last delivery, the lovebirds stopped by Gaby’s Gymnastics School to surprise an evening class of young gymnasts and led warm-up stretches.
"We had so much fun! We actually got to be associates, which was so humbling but also so impressive! We got to see the process and see how organized and how wonderful it is, especially since there is a new Same-Day Delivery hub in Nashville," Johnson says. "It was really special, and we got to visit a bunch of kids who were also affiliated with the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital program that we work with. We were humbled. We use Amazon Same-Day Delivery everyday, multiple times a week, and so to see how they actually do it and meet the people who are doing this all day, every day was amazing."
This year, Johnson and East hand-selected their very own Same-Day Delivery gift picks, exclusively available via Johnson's Amazon storefront. From professional athlete-approved equipment, like the Amazon Basics Foam Roller and WILSON NFL Football, to cozy winter essentials, like the Bedsure Heated Blanket and JIASUQI Toe Slippers, there is something for everyone.
"Amazon has no shortage of our favorites! Our storefront is truly just every single thing we have in our house," Johnson says of the gifts she's pulled together. "We use Amazon for everything — whether it's makeup wipes or a gym bag or workout gear, it's perfect for our everyday essentials that we stock our storefront with. We then got to pick out those for some of the kids. We gave them footballs and gym bags, etc."
The pair love Amazon!
To view Johnson and East's Same-Day Delivery gift guide, click HERE.
