Shawn Johnson Reveals 4-Year-Old Daughter Drew's Super Sweet Nickname for Simone Biles

What's in a name? Would a GOAT by any other name dominate so hard?

Well, yes, of course. But if Simone Biles is in the market for a new nickname, Shawn Johnson East's 4-year-old daughter Drew has a suggestion. 

While watching the women's gymnastics' individual all-around competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, "She kept asking, 'Mama, where's The Best?'" Shawn revealed in an exclusive interview with E! News. "And it's because I kept talking about Simone, how she's the best. So instead of calling her Simone, she's like, 'Mama, where's The Best?'" 

And though the gymnast—who nabbed a gold medal and three silvers while competing at the 2008 Games in Beijing—admitted she wasn't sure if her eldest "would last two minutes, 10 minutes or the whole time," the preschooler was fully locked in as she watched Simone and teammate Suni Lee make the podium at the Aug. 1 event. 

Drew "was enthralled," said Shawn, 32, whose mom Teri Johnson and husband Andrew East also attended the competition. "She thought it was so special and it was. It was just a really cool full-circle moment." 

Though she noted that the experience didn't necessarily vault her daughter into a future of gymnastics. 

"She liked to watch it," said Shawn, "but she still is all gung ho on ice skating." 

As for the other parts of their European trip—which included stops in London and Sorrento, Italy—that stuck the landing for kids Drew, Jett, 3, and Bear, 8 months?

"Probably the chocolate croissants," joked Shawn. 

Echoed Andrew, "We went to one of the gymnastics competitions, but still the highlight was seeing Mickey." 

A jaunt to Disneyland Paris aside, "Some of our favorite times were outside of the Olympics," Shawn acknowledged. "I will never forget there was one night where we had finished dinner and we were running around, playing chase in the yard, looking at the most beautiful sunset. We just got to be a family and experience a new place, which is really fun."

What really made the trip winning, agreed Andrew, was the chance to stray from their usual organized chaos in Nashville. 

"It was fun because we're pretty routine-oriented at home, so each day looks somewhat the same," explained the former NFL long snapper, 32, "but just taking a little trip outside of our normal routine unlocked a lot of really precious memories where we're doing dance parties in the living room in the morning and at night."

At home, though, they try to stick to the same choreography. 

"Breakfast, we try to have somewhat prepared before the kids wake up," explained Andrew of their stay-sane-with-three-under-5 tips. "Dinner, this time of year it's great, because we run around outside while one of us is inside preparing dinner. It makes the chaos a little less and you can actually get things on plates before people start eating it." 

And afterwards, it all gets tossed in the nearest Rubbermaid Brilliance container. "Everything is leftovers eaten the next day or food prepped for the next day," described Shawn of the leakproof, shatter-, stain- and odor-resistant pieces. "And my kids like to throw them and they actually don't fall apart, which is great." 

The parents of three have also mastered the art of bending, not breaking. 

Take their before-dinner witching hour, for instance. 

"I've been doing what we call snack trays or charcuterie boards," explained Shawn. "You just take a platter and you put a little bit of everything in your fridge on it. I'm talking two or three bites on one big tray. It's genius. They will eat every single bit of it and it holds them over for a couple hours." 

As for Shawn, she can hardly get her fill. 

It helps that their "three tiny little humans are just absolutely amazing," as she described. "They're kind and sweet and full of life and wild and their little personalities just come out more and more every single day. It's just a joy to watch." 

Drew is nailing her role as big sister, Jett is stepping up as sous-chef ("He lives for cooking with you," said Shawn), and Bear is just taking in each moment. 

Whenever his older siblings return home from school or other activities, "Bear just lights up," shared Shawn. "They are truly his people and it's fun to see how they're interacting more and more." 

The proof is in the family photos they snapped during their European getaway, which Shawn and Andrew gamely shared with E! News. 

While gymnast Shawn Johnson East picked up a gold medal and three silvers while competing at the 2008 Olympics, one could argue she deserves some more hardware for taking her whole squad—husband Andrew East and their kids Drew, Jett and Bear—to Paris 16 years later.  

"I gave birth to Jett while Tokyo was going on," the athlete explained to E! News of welcoming her son in July 2021, "missed the Winter [Olympics]. I am craving the Olympic atmosphere. So we will all be there. We will be a circus walking, but we will be there." 

Their trip down the Seine was a highlight of the madness. "We got to see SO many historic buildings," Shawn shared on Instagram, "and the kids loved it."

Getting to watch Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Suni Lee and Hezly Rivera compete for the U.S. gymnastics team was a "full circle" moment, Shawn declared. "It sounds very cheesy and cliché," she told E! News, "but there is some sort of sentiment to being back at the Olympics, 16 years later, with my husband and my babies."

Though she acknowledged her 4-year-old daughter would likely judge just one element of the competition. 

"Drew does enjoy watching gymnastics strictly for the leotards," Shawn admitted. "So she'll enjoy watching the leotards for maybe 20 minutes. And then we'll be good with it."

"Mom & Dad are on minimal sleep haha but having the absolute best time," Shawn declared on Instagram after their trip down the Seine River and visit to the Eiffel Tower. "Wouldn’t trade it for the world."

As for their trip to the famed monument, "There are 1,665 steps," Shawn shared on Instagram, "and we carried our kids up every one of them." 

Though she acknowledged their weeks-long European adventure was ambitious, "We'll just figure it out," Shawn vowed ahead of the trip. "Our kids are very used to traveling." 

After visiting Paris' Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre along with a series of shops and restaurants, Shawn declared the outing, "Another day for the books."

The East fam sandwiched their stay in Paris with jaunts to London (where they enjoyed high tea and a visit to Buckingham Palace) and Sorrento, Italy. 

"We're going to tour around Europe for a month," Shawn told E!. "We're going to do it all. We're doing trains, planes, and automobiles and boats."

Though Shawn cracked the highlight of the trip for her kids would be an outing to Disneyland Paris, she and Andrew enjoyed their beach day in Italy.  

"If you asked us why we bring our kids on vacation, we'd say it's because we'd miss them too much," Shawn shared of taking their whole crew on the epic adventure. "But if you asked us on a deeper level, we would say because life is so much more fun with our kids by our side." 

Having the chance to create core memories with their trio of tiny humans "is our dream come true," she continued, "and getting to see their faces light up with each new experience is worth every second." 

The pair took in one last day in the Italian sun before heading home to Nashville. As Shawn declared on Instagram, it was the "trip of a lifetime." 

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