Shawn Johnson Biography

Early Life and Education

Shawn Johnson was born Shawn Machel Johnson East on 19th January 1992 in Des Moines, Iowa under the birth sign Capricorn. Johnson is American as per nationality and as far as her ethnicity is concerned, she is White.

Johnson is the daughter of Doug and Teri Johnson. At the age of three, she was sent to gymnastics class. She then became one of Liang Chow’s first student in his gymnastic school in West Des Moines.

Johnson attended Valley High School. In 2009, she quit the school and moved to LA, California with her mother. The following year, she completed her schooling privately. Later, she joined Vanderbilt University to pursue a degree in nutrition and sports psychology but withdrew before the class began.

Gymnastics Career

Shawn Johnson, after years of tedious training, competed in the Junior Olympics National Championships at the age of 12 meeting all the requirements. Johnson stood fourth in all-around. Later, she qualified for the Junior International Elite in her first attempt. 

By 2007, Johnson started playing as a senior and competed at the 2007 Tyson American Cup where she won against teammate Natasha Kelley. She then won four gold medals after competing in the 2007 Pan American Games. She also won 2007 Visa U.S. National Championship defeating Shayla Worley.

Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Alicia Sacramone, Shayla Worley, Samantha Peszek and Ivana Hong represented their country at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

On 1st March 2008, Johnson competed in American Cup where she stood second in all-around (beam balance, vault, and floor). The same year, she won the 2008 U.S. Visa Championships where she won all-around with 127.5 scores.

Johnson also competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics where she won a gold medal for the balance beam. Her amazing performance helped her to score 63.325. She won a silver medal in the all-around and floor exercise. 

Johnson is also a five-time Pan American Games gold medalist, winning the team titles in 2007 and 2011, as well as titles in the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam in 2007.

As of 2010, Johnson suffered an injury on her left knee. Due to this, she had to take a gap from her career. She won the team title in the 2011 Pan American Games. Later, she announced her comeback with a goal of making 2012 U.S. Olympic team after the recovery. 

After numbers of competitions, Johnson decided to leave her gymnastics career. On 3rd June 2012, she announced her retirement due to her knee problem.

TV Career

Shawn Johnson began her TV career at the age of 17. She competed on ABC’s reality show, Dancing with the Stars season eight. On the show, she partnered with Mark Ballas, a professional dancer and succeeded to win the show. She was one of the youngest champions in the show until Laurie Hernandez won the season 23. The same year, she appeared in a music video, Do You Love Me by Ballas High Band.

On 24th September 2012, Johnson again competed in ABC’s Dancing With The Stars season 15. She was partnered with Derek Hough (three-time champion). This time she stood second on the show.

Johnson then appeared in various talk shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, CCTV, The Today Show, and Live with Regis and Kelly among others.

In 2008, Johnson made a cameo role on the TV series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She shared the screen with Shailene Woodley, Daren Kagasoff, Francia Raisa, Meghan Park and Ken Baumann among others.

Johnson continued to appear in numbers of other shows like Miss American pageant (as a judge), Celebrity Apprentice (contestant), The Challenge, Adventure Capitalist and Whose Lines Is IT Anyway among others.

Honors

Shawn Johnson has been honored with several titles and awards to date:

• 2007 = Longines Prize for Elegance.
• 2008 = 5th most voted Female Athlete in the Associated Press.
• 2008 = Teen Choice Award for Best Female Athlete.
• 2009 = AOLs 27th out of 100 most searched female on the Internet.
• 2009 = America’s Most-Liked Sports Figure by Forbes magazine.
• 2009 = AAU James E. Sullivan Award.
• 2010 = Most Appealing Athletes on E-score Celebrity metric.
• 2010 = 7th America’s Favorite Female Sports Stars on Harris Interactive.
• 2010 = ESPY Award for Best Female U.S. Olympian and Teen Choice Award.
• 2013 = Inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

Shawn Johnson is a married woman, she married her boyfriend, Andrew East after months of dating. The pair tied the knot on 16th April 2016. They met with the help of East’s brother (a former athlete) years ago. Her husband is a popular American football long snapper who is currently playing for the Oakland Raiders of the NFL.

The couple got engaged at Chicago’s Wrigley Field during a Chicago Cubs game. She even tweeted about the proposal saying,

‘’ Today the love of my life asked me to be his forever... AND I SAID YES!! #isaidyes #weregettingmarried #wrigleyfield,’’

Almost a year after the romantic proposal, the couple exchanged their vows in Franklin, Tennessee in the presence of 350 guests in a grand way. The resides in Nashville, Tennessee at present.

In October 2017, Johnson and her husband posted a video where she revealed that she was pregnant but suffered a miscarriage and lost their first baby. It was a terrible loss for them but they stuck together in this tough time.

In 2015, Johnson suffered from eating disorder. She revealed that she used to eat only 700 calories a day which is less than recommended calories for a 16-year-old.

By 2008, Johnson became the member of The Tour of Gymnastics Superstars, nationwide concert tour. Frosted Pink with a Twist, the second show of the tour was especially for women’s cancer. In the show, she appeared with singers like Cyndi Lauper, Carole King, Kenny Loggins and Jesse McCartney.

Johnson also served as a spokesperson for Sanofi-Aventis, a pharmaceutical company that raises awareness on women cancer. She even worked with Crest toothpaste to promote dental health to low-income people.

In 2009, LA residence, Robert O’Ryan was arrested after sneaking onto CBS lot and jumping a fence. During his arrest, the police found duct tape, zip ties, a gun and a love letter to Johnson.

O’Ryan moved to California from Florida believing that Johnson called him through television via ESP (Extrasensory perception) stating that they would stay together happily. Johnson’s family then filed a restraining order against him. Later, he was charged with burglary, felony stalking and two misdemeanor counts of carrying a loaded firearm in his vehicle.   

O’Ryan pleaded not guilty for his deed due to insanity. Later, he was sent to Patton State Hospital for over five years.

Net Worth

Shawn Johnson, a former gymnast, stands at the height of 5 feet (1.52m). Johnson, the winner of Dancing With The Stars season 8, currently has an estimated net worth of $9 million.

Johnson earns $5.9k-$94.3k annually from her YouTube channel, Shawn Johnson East. She also earns from her published books and novels; Shawn Johnson: Olympic Champion: Stories Behind the Smile ($1.18), Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far about Love, Faith & Living Your Dreams ($10.29) and The Flip Side.

Johnson appeared in several advertisements and online campaigns for Ortega, and McDonald’s. She also appeared in various web advertisements and covers on food packaging of Oscar Mayer Lunchables, Coca-Cola, Hy-Vee products and McDonald’s among others. Johnson even signed a sponsorship deal with Nike in 2011.

Johnson has also endorsed the following products:

• Crest toothpaste (P&G)
• Circuit City
• Eukanuba
• InterContinental Hotels Group
• Longines Watches
• Nestle
• Bounty Paper towels

In 2009, she competed in Dancing With The Stars season 8 where she earned $125k plus an additional $10k for appearing on the show.

The United States Olympics Committee rewards $25k to the gold medalist, $15k to the silver medalist and $10k to the bronze medalist. Johnson has a gold and a silver medal in Olympics, so, she earned a good amount of prize money as well. 

Johnson is also involved in charities and donations. She collected $50k from the celebrity edition of Who Wants to be a Millionaire which she donated to Blank Children’s Hospital. She even rose money from a charity event which she donated to flood victims for reparation of the flood-devastated areas.