Shawn Johnson Claims 'Special Forces' Team Tried to Pit Her Against Husband

Shawn Johnson East is pulling back the curtain on competing alongside husband Andrew East on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test — revealing the Directing Staff tried to pull them apart.

“They tried really hard, I think just to [break us apart] — not because they were, like, anti us — but just to see, like, the mental strength and where your breaking points are,” Shawn, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, September 10, while promoting season 4 of the Fox reality series, which premieres later this month.

The Olympic gymnast explained that their efforts were in vain. “Every time they tried to pit us against each other, I think they just kind of got frustrated because we were, like, not shaken by it at all,” Shawn revealed.

“I remember I was put in a room once with the [Directing Staff], and they’re like, ‘Isn’t it just so annoying? Like how he comes running and he’s breathing down your neck when he thinks you’re hurt?’” Shawn recalled. “I was like, ‘I kind of think it’s endearing. It’s kind of great.’”

She teased that the DS or Directing Staff, who are ex-United States Special Forces operatives, “tried hard” to get her and Andrew, 33, to compete against each other instead of together.

“I don’t think that they succeeded,” Shawn confirmed, adding that it was “really nice” having Andrew by her side as she was “pushed to be in such uncomfortable situations.”

The gold medalist explained that being able to look over and “see my husband or just knowing he’s there” helped her “push myself further.”

Even with Andrew there to pick her up — literally and figuratively — Shawn confessed, “It was a wild ride.”

She teased, “I got to see sides of him that I’ve never seen before and we got to compete together for the first time, which was really special.”

Andrew, who is a retired NFL player, exclusively told Us on Wednesday that having Shawn along for the ride was a total blessing. (Each episode celebrity contestants are put through real tests that the United States Special Forces must complete to become part of the military.)

“It’s an experience that’s hard to communicate or share [or] describe to anybody else,” he said. “So the fact that we were able to do it together, I think was really, really special.”

Andrew admitted, “It would have been sad if one of us did it alone. Because you cannot describe it — you can’t capture the full experience in words.”

Shawn and Andrew have been married since 2016 and have since welcomed daughter Drew, 5, and sons Jett, 4, and Bear, 20 months.

While the couple are both physically fit, and have had grueling careers as professional athletes, they revealed that Special Forces is unlike anything they’ve ever done.

“I do think the experience brought us closer together,” Andrew told Us of the experience. “It was really fun, because I missed Shawn’s entire gymnastics career, so I never got to see her in competition mode. But in the couple weeks of preparation we got for this, and then on the show, I saw what made her the world champion that she is, and it was, like, unbelievable.”

Shawn couldn’t agree more, explaining that she saw the team-player side of her husband throughout the reality show.

“He’s the ultimate ‘yes man’ for an entire team, and makes everyone feel encouraged,” Shawn shared with Us. “He’s kind of the goofball, but does it in a way where he’s also, like, crushing the competition. And I loved being able to see that. It was endearing.”

Season 4 of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test premieres on Fox Thursday, September 25, at 9 p.m. ET.