Heavy/Getty Many of Hayley Erbert and Derek Hough's wedding guests flew in for their nuptials
Olympic gold medal gymnast and “Dancing With The Stars” Season 8 winner Shawn Johnson is extremely relieved to be back home with her kids after traveling to Los Angeles for a jam-packed long weekend that included Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert’s wedding on August 26, 2023.
Johnson, who announced in July that she and her husband — former NFL player Andrew East –are expecting their third child, posted a video in her Instagram Stories on August 28 about how relieved she was to return home to her “babies.”
While in California, Johnson also attended a reunion of the 2008 Olympic gymnastics team and was on hand as fellow DWTS alum Simone Biles won her history-making eighth national title.
Though Johnson noted the trip was full of “great stuff,” she said she was nearly “bawling her eyes out” when she got home, realizing she can never be away from her family for that long again.
Shawn Johnson Decides She Won’t Leave Her Kids More Than 2 Nights in the Future
Johnson and East, who were married in 2016 and live in Nashville, are parents to daughter Drew, 3, and son Jett, 2, per Us Weekly.
“I’ll tell you what,” she started her lighthearted video for fans, with her dressed in a black hoodie as she filmed from inside a vehicle. “Four nights away from our babies is too long. Three nights is like manageable, but four nights is too much. I almost bawled my eyes out seeing our kids. Drew kept saying, ‘Mommy, you were…like, I haven’t seen you in a long time.’ And they’ve changed, they’ve grown up, ugh!”
Over the video, Johnson amended her travel restrictions by writing, “”Official verdict. 4 nights away from babies is too long. 2 nights/3 days is the max. Feel like I could bawl my eyes out now that we are back. I missed them so so so much.”
Johnson continued in her video, “That was an amazing trip, got to go to a wedding, got to do the reunion for the 2008 Olympic team. It’s all great stuff, but man, I don’t ever want to travel again. I miss our kids way too much! Oh my gosh.”
Fully back in mom mode, she added, “Currently working on restocking groceries and getting everything, you know, back to normal as you do when you get home. It’s good to be home.”
Shawn Johnson Had Eventful Long Weekend in California
Though the trip may have felt long for Johnson, it was jam-packed with memorable experiences. The women’s and men’s 2008 Olympic gymnastics teams reunited at the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championship in San Jose. Teammate Chellsie Memmel posted photos of them walking out to wave to the crowd and from a group dinner, as did Nastia Liukin, who wrote that “this group of incredible humans became my brothers and sisters for the rest of my life” 15 years ago.
Liukin and Johnson also had the honor of presenting Biles, 26, with her medal and flowers as she took to the podium after becoming the first American gymnast to win eight national all-around titles — male or female, per Axios.
What a moment!
Before connecting with her gymnastics teammates, Johnson also reunited with Hough, her partner on the 2012 all-star season of DWTS, and now one of the show’s judges.
It was a meeting of the baby bumps as People magazine captured shots of Johnson and East with DWTS Mark Ballas — Johnson’s DWTS partner in 2008 — and his pregnant wife, BC Jean. Johnson, the outlet reported, “cloaked her baby bump in a black off-the-shoulder number.”
On the July 19 episode of Hannah Brown’s “Better Tomorrow” podcast, Johnson said she’s still “so close” with Hough that he’s “like another brother.” The two filmed a funny series of videos in March as they tried to reenact some of their moves from 2012. She told Brown that she considers him a “pure genius” when it comes to dancing.
“It’s so hard to keep up with because his brain works so fast and it’s creating and just, I think he is able to see so much more than we are when he’s creating something,” she said.