All Episodes

June 3, 2021 • 14 mins

So, what is Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas up to now? Shawne And Gabby have a great conversation about her life off the mat. How she's turned down Dancing With The Stars but said yes, to the Masked Dancer (which she won). Gabby gives her opinion on what Olympians may be going through as the Summer Games were pushed back another year. And, what is Gabby doing to help future gymnasts?

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Are you ready for this? Jean Merriman A one of
hand effect. Boom boom boom. I'll go to light. This
is Lights Out with Sean Merriman. What's up, guys. You're
back again with another lights out podcast with me Sean Merriman,
And we got one of the best gymnast Olympic gymnasts

(00:22):
of all time, Gabby Douglas. Been a huge fan of hers.
I grew up actually, uh not too far from Dominick Dolls.
Dominic Dolls was my favorite gymnasts growing up up. She
grew up thinking about five or six miles from me,
back in PG County, and so I got into the
school a long time ago by watching her because it
was the only one person representing back from when I'm from.

(00:43):
So Um, she got plenty of things going on. I
actually had a tech summit that I was speaking at
about four years ago, and I'll get into it. A
NASCAR does she remember? She probably does it? Um, But
Gabby came and spoke right after I got on stage,
and it was awesome. Just didn't know she had so
many things going on on. Super intelligent and let's talk
to you about a SMOOTHI king. You know, she got

(01:04):
a huge things she's promoting with SMOOTHI king. We're gonna
find out what that is. So here we go, Gabby Douglas, Gabby, Hello, Hello,
what's up? What's happened? Then? You know, you know the
last time I've seen you, I think was that a
tech summit some years ago. I don't know if you
remember that. It was in um it was in Hollywood, Okay,
So why did I get up here? And I'm like, wait,

(01:26):
it looks familiar, like where have I Where have I
seen him? I know him? We both spoke at that
at that text summit. I was supposed to come up
and say something to you whatever, and I don't even
know if I introduced myself. But but what what you
got going on? You got you got so much stuff
going on? Like what's what's the main thing you have
going on? And taking up most of your time? Oh?
My good as well? I have so many things taking

(01:48):
at my time, um, which I'm super grateful for. But
I would say the one thing is um me, I
guess like just with brand things and just getting you know,
building even my platform and just so many things, so
many things. I know, So how how is it different?
Because I know like obviously you know you're still pretty
active and stuff like that is an adjustment not competing

(02:10):
because my first two years when I retired, I was
like I was losing it a little bit. I was
sitting back like man, I'm like, I'm it's not like
you're trying to find your identity. It's just that that
little thing that wake you up, like that that competition
to get you going was missing. So I got into
like m m A just to kind of feel that
void a little bit, like what what did you get into?

(02:32):
The kind of like Okay, cool, I can I can
compete in something a little bit to give me ed still,
like where were you got going on? Well that's so
interesting and so interesting to hear from. Um just give
different perspectives. But for me, I didn't have that. UM
I guess uh miss if you will like on this

(02:53):
competing when you know what I'm saying, Like after the Olympics,
I got to so many things because there were so
many things that I couldn't get into because I was
training because I was allowed. And so now I'm like,
I'm a chef. I love skateboarding, I love to play
the guitar, I love just so many things that I've
gotten into, um, hiking, and just to be honest, I

(03:16):
didn't might be into a little bit because there's so
many things I couldn't do. That's one of the things
I picked up over the last couple of years. It's hiking.
Like I never thought I'd be doing so much outdoor
shot because I wasn't like an outdoors person at all,
and like I wouldn't go camping, I wouldn't do none
of that. But now I'm hiking. If it's in l
A and I'm running a Griffin Griffin park, um, you

(03:36):
know I'm in I'm in Vegas now most of the time.
So there's big heights of red rock in different places
wherebo I traveling out on the weekends, I'll go hike. Yeah, honestly,
I love hiking. I love nature and especially being indoors
a lot. Like I would always go from the car
to the hotel, the hotel, you know, to the gym,
and the gym to the so I was always in
a building and like now finally get to go outside

(03:58):
and enjoy life, enjoy air and not be so confined
into into hotels and cars and and gymnasiums. And so
that's for me, that's when I really got connected to nature. Was,
you know, being taken a break from from nastics. I'm like, wow,
I was pretty you know. Okay, So let me let

(04:19):
me ask you this. Um you you offered like plenty
of time for Dance with the Stars, right, And my
my publicist when when I retired, like a couple of
years after I retired, they offered me to come on
Dance with the Stars, and I said, I said, no,
do not even put my name in it. Don't put
my name up for it. I'm way too damn big
to be out there with a glitter blouse on and

(04:41):
like you know and shimmy in my shoulders somewhere and
slide across the floor. I would not do it, right,
So what was what was your thing? Like? What happened
with you with that? Well? I was recently on The
Mask Dancer, which I just I love that experience because
I love the fact of being mysterious and never was
like who is it and like throwing off different people

(05:03):
like oh I'm a sassy girl. Oh I'm ballerina. Oh
like I'm sury Candy, And so it was really fun
just to embody different types of characters. While still remaining
in the same character. But I've never been on this
with stars. I've been asked to do dance from the
Star several times and I said, no, Um, I just

(05:25):
I don't know something about the mass answer like I said,
that drew me to It was more about a character driven.
It was more about having fun than being technical. And
the footwork and the fox drawn Oh you get a five.
Oh I didn't like it, you get a nine? Like
this is more fan it was more fan base, and
I just I'm not known for my dancing background, and
so like, I look, if you can't dance, just go

(05:47):
ahead and say you can't dance, just it's be so good.
We could just keep it wanting if you can't dance,
if you will. But like as far as like doing
the dancing in heels, that's another added piece. And so
I'm like, and I've already you know what I'm saying,
And I've seen those packages on the TV, like you're
not getting it right and you're not and I'm like, yeah,

(06:08):
I don't think that's for me. No, you would have
done well, I mean you would have killed it, my
my big gass. There would have been no way that
I was, I would have made everybody look small and
probably you know, look look uncoordinated. It looks what is
his what is his big self doing on this show?
But I've seen a lot of people tall, small, whatever,

(06:30):
and I think they look good like it. Really though,
it depends on the technique because you can do something
slow but it's still like smooth and it's like, oh,
that still look good. So I mean, are you are
let me ask you, are you happy to be out
of this like this whole pandemic? Like how was the
pandemic for you? Well, honestly it was. It was very different. Um.
I was traveling so much, um speaking engagements for brands,

(06:53):
for shoots, and I was literally I was barely at home,
Like I literally my home was in the air. It
was on a plane. And so one day it was
like everything's canceled and like all right now everything's on zoom,
everything's on video, and I'm just so many people have
sent me so many things microphones and cameras, and I
literally have become a little camera woman, like okay, we

(07:16):
gotta plug in this and the the the USB in
the se because I mean you know what I mean,
Like people want professional outtakes and they want professional things.
So it's like I'll become a cameraman. So anytime you
need get down something, just you know, call me up.
I got you. I'm gonna hit you up. And I
guess I got a lot of stuff coming. Um. I
was just actually in Texas about three about four weeks ago.

(07:38):
Now I spent a lot of time in fristcal Um.
I got some guys in Houston I worked with and
the UM. One place I'm gonna go check out as Austin.
I've never been to Austin. I've heard it popping. I've
never been Austin. Yeah, I heard the same thing. So
they pushed up. Then they pushed the Olympics back right
a year because of the whole pandemic and everything that happened. Um,
how is how does that in you opan different? Because

(08:00):
I know in football and I said that when they
come out of this pandemic, there were going to be
a lot of injuries, right because there was no really
no all season, no training camps all that stuff. What
what happens in you know in your sport when something
gets put because you already got to wait with four years, right,
so now you get it pushed back a whole fit year.
What do you what do you think is gonna happen

(08:21):
with that? Honestly, I just I mean for me, if
you know what I'm saying, like putting myself in it. Um,
I would just be concerned with burnout because we go
so hard every single day and we don't have one
day off. Um. And so now it's it's been pushed
back a year, and so you have to decide either
burnout or being extremely lazy, you know, because you don't

(08:43):
want to push yourself to the maximum because it's not
time yet. And then if you kind of scale back,
Oh how much do I scale back? Oh? Then you
risk the chance of being lazy. Your endurance is going
to be shoddy. Um. And so I don't know. I
guess it just depends on the athlete, depends on the mindset.
But I would say burn out or just get completely
complacent or lazy. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports

(09:05):
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I
Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.
In your opinion, there's no one between right, You're going
all the way in or you're just kind of gonna
step back. Yeah, we're trying to go all the way
in or you know what I'm saying, like to take
a step back. But when we do take a step back,

(09:26):
it's one day, it's not a long period of time
because gymnastics is all about muscle memory. Do it over
and over again so you don't mess up. And so
it's just do I go doing not? Is Hulympics happening?
Is it not? And so it's it's really difficult, especially
as an athlete because this is your whole life, right
are they still asking you to be involved? Like how

(09:48):
involved are you now? Are you just completely away from
the sport? I do mentor um people who are and
youngers who are trying and buying a spot too, and
Pete for the Olympics. So I do keep my feeding
so um, I'm grateful that I can share my experiences
and help these younger gymnasts um achieve something greater than themselves.

(10:12):
Who do who do you? Like you got any favorites
business coming up right now? Like if you look back
and you say, okay, who's the who's the Gabby Douglas
like of that time because you was the first ever
a whole lot of stuff, and you kind of set
the tone for a lot of things. And who do
you see if you look back right now, that that's
the young Gabby coming up. If oh, man, see that's

(10:34):
so hard because um, there's so because I know a
few people and there's so much talent and um, so
much tenacity and encourage. So I don't I don't know
if I can really sing out single out anybody, because
you know, as an athlete, everyone works. Not everyone shouldn't say,

(10:55):
but you know, majority of people work so so hard
to get to point A to point B, and so
I don't know. Okay, Well, look, last but not least,
I gotta ask you because he's one of my favorite James.
I love Smoothie King. What you got going on with
with Smoothie King, Well, I'm glad you're King of Smoothieking
because I've been a long time fan of Smoothie King
for so long. Even after practice, I would get Smoothi

(11:16):
King with my best friend. And I'm just really excited
to team up with a brand who believes in clean
ingredients and organic veggies. And we have the hydration watermlon
Smoothie which is so great and so beneficial and at
the right time because it's summer and it's coconut water,
strawberries waterlon juice, which is key to hydration. So get

(11:37):
your Watermono. So so let let me tell you a
funny story about Smoothie King. I competed on American Ninja
Warrior a couple of years ago. And you know, I'm big,
right naturally, I walk around about two hundred seventy pounds
and my shoulder is big, so I'm looking at all
the ninjas that's on the show. So for one week,
I had nothing but Smoothie King. Every day I didn't

(11:58):
I didn't eat, I didn't do anything at the grain juices,
the you know, the veggie juices. For one whole week
I had Smoothly King. I dropped seventeen pounds, right, and
I go on this show just to find out I'm
still way too that big. So just heynds, it's a big,

(12:20):
big shout out the Smoothly King. Well, Gabby, I appreciate you.
M hopefully I run into you again. This time. When
I see you, I'm gonna come up and talk to you,
because I was a couple of feet away from me
right after you went off the stage and we were
back there, I think, chilling in the green room, and
I still didn't get a chance to talk to you.
But when I do, since you already offered the camera
and you got the skills I need to I need.

(12:42):
I need your assistance, need your help. Let's go off.
I'll help you with dancing as well. So I got you. Okay, listen,
I'm on it. I'm on it them because you know
you give me, you give me, give me the right away.
I'm hitting you up. Let's go. And I remember this
because I'm like, oh yeah, this HM call that's right, okay, cool, Hey,
take it easy, guy. I appreciate you. Thanks for your time.

(13:03):
Thank you so much. Have a good one. Thanks guys
for listening to another lights Out podcast with me, Sean
Merimon and man, Gabby is cool, right, super super cool. Um,
I'm still upset I didn't go up to talk to
her and introduce myself. UM's got a ton of business
things going on, and I'm definitely gonna take her up
on that offer. She's a videographer and really good to camera.

(13:26):
So I got a bunch of things coming up, a
bunch of different shows, and you know, shoots and things
like that, so I'm definitely hitting her up. UM, good
luck with the Smoothie King partnership. We're sure nothing but
the best. And uh, thank you for guys who listening
there to another Lights Out podcast me Sean Merriman. We're
gonna be back next weekend. I want to give another
thank you two guys. Um, seriously, we just crossed over

(13:48):
two hundreds and thousand listens a month, and uh, it's
really because of you, guys, obviously, you you like what
we're doing, UM leaving those great reviews and comments. UM,
I don't get a chance to respond to them all,
but I do see them. So we're gonna keep pushing
and keep going this thing and keeping big because that's
what we do. Thank you. M
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.