Weird Things About Kristen Bell And Dax Shepard's Marriage You Can't Ignore

This article contains mentions of addiction.

They're considered one of the most down to-earth-couples in Hollywood, but what you never knew about Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard might surprise you. Since the stars first got together in 2007, they've starred in a handful of movies together, had two children, and shared (overshared, some might say) all the ups and downs in their relationship with their fanbase. However, at least thus far, it seems there have been far more ups in their nearly two decades together, and Bell has often spoken about how far they've come as a couple.

"I've learned the necessity for healthy communication," the "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" star told Women's Health in September 2009. Bell emphasized the importance of discussing "your deepest, darkest fears and feelings" with your spouse, adding that "your partner should hear your most embarrassing insecurities, because once you say them out loud, you've created a safe zone."

But despite seeming to be a match made in heaven, there are also many weird things about Bell and Shepard's marriage you can't ignore. From their completely unromantic first meeting to their explosive fights and highly criticized parenting choices, there are more than a few red flags in the actors' relationship.

Back in 2007, around the time she got her big break on "Veronica Mars," Kristen Bell met Dax Shepard for the first time at a mutual friend's birthday party. If it were a movie, the two probably would've locked eyes from across the room, and they would've fallen in love instantly. However, Bell's first impression of her soon-to-be movie star husband wasn't all too positive.

In June 2024, while speaking on Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson's podcast "Where Everybody Knows Your Name," she revealed the true story behind her first encounter with Shepard. "All I remember from that night was, 'That guy from "Jackass" talks so much, whoa he's chatty,'" Bell recalled. Of course, Shepard wasn't in the "Jackass" franchise; rather he starred in an episode of "Punk'd," but fortunately, he didn't know who Bell was either. "We had no chemistry," she added.

The two reconnected years later, but then it was Shepard's turn to have his reservations about his future spouse. In January 2019, the "Zathura" star revealed on Sam Jones' podcast "Off Camera" that he initially wasn't sure he wanted to be with Bell. "I've always felt very confident in relationships, so I never ever was like, 'Oh, I hope I can keep Kristen.'" Shepard went on to say that initially, Bell was almost too good of a person for him to consider having a long-term relationship with.

There are plenty of celebrity couples who got married after breaking up, and amazingly, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are one of them. Back in August 2017, the "Heroes" actor revealed to PopSugar that, although she and her husband are pretty solid now, he actually broke up with her early on in their relationship.

"We were dating for about three months, and I already knew that I was in love with him and he was hesitant because he knew he was still dating other people," Bell said. Shepard ended up sitting her down and explaining that because he was still dating other people and wasn't ready to settle down with her, he wanted to end things between the two of them. "I, like, liquefied and fell to the ground, but I felt incredibly respected that he had the balls to tell me we weren't in the same place," Bell added.

Just four days later, though, Shepard knew he'd made a mistake and had to win her back. As Bell continued, "He called me and he was like, 'I don't know what I was thinking. I was dating someone else but they're just not as interesting as you, and I don't know what I'm doing.'" Of course, the actor took Shepard back, but she never let him forget about the mistake he'd made.

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard had been through a lot in just a short amount of time together. Surprisingly, the two had enrolled in couples therapy just a few months after their breakup and reunion. Woody Harrelson was bewildered when the "Veronica Mars" star told him on "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" that she and her now-husband "went to therapy a lot" within six months of dating. "We're both really stubborn," Bell explained.

While plenty of couples go to therapy together to work out their communication breakdowns and learn to be there for one another more, it's rare to do so this early on in the relationship. According to an October 2021 study by the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, couples will often remain unhappy for an average of two and a half years before seeking help from an expert. Where most couples would probably call it quits if they were having difficulty in the relationship this early on, the Hollywood couple persevered.

During a December 2017 conversation with Us Weekly, Shepard revealed that making things work with Bell has been far from easy. "We don't believe that you can meet someone and you have a perfectly matching personalities," the actor said. "We are opposites and it has taken a tremendous amount of work and therapy for us to coexist."

After dating for two years, Dax Shepard popped the question in December 2009 — and, of course, Kristen Bell said yes. The "Baby Mama" actor later revealed to People that Bell's "Couples Retreat" co-star played a big part in him working up the nerve, as he said, "Jason [Bateman] was first to go, 'Stop f***ing around and marry Kristen." However, it took some time for the two to make it official — several years, in fact.

Speculation swirled around the couple, but in a February 2012 interview with The Advocate, Bell set the record straight on why she and Shepard were waiting to get married. "I don't feel appropriate taking advantage of a right that's denied to my best friends. That's why we've been so hesitant," she explained. At this point, same-sex marriage still hadn't been legalized in America. Some were confused about the heterosexual couple's decision, but, as Bell stated, "We're just standing up for what we believe in. Period."

Finally, in June 2013, same-sex couples were allowed to get married in California, leading Bell to propose to Shepard in the most romantic way: on Twitter. "Will you marry me? Xo," she wrote to him (via the Los Angeles Times). They finally tied the knot just four months later in an intimate, non-traditional courthouse wedding, where Bell wore all black and Shepard opted for a tattooed wedding ring.

Countless people turn to celebrities for advice — their lives seem picture-perfect, after all — and some have delivered time and again, including Kristen Bell, who has shared her super simple secrets to maintaining a successful marriage. From ways to be vulnerable with your partner to resolving conflicts, the "Frozen" star seems to have things figured out with Dax Shepard.

Bell revealed another piece of relationship advice while speaking with E! News in August 2017, shortly after Anna Farris and Chris Pratt called it quits. "If there are two people that decide not to be together, it shouldn't really be a heartbreak for everyone," she explained. "You should say, 'Oh, they tried. But that doesn't discount the lovely years they had together.'" Bell related this piece of advice to her relationship with Shepard, adding, "If I ever get divorced, I'm still going to be like, 'Wow, I loved being married to that man.'" In short, it seems the actor has made her peace with the fact that she and her husband might not work out in the long term, but that she'll never regret their time together.

Like any famous couple, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have been the subject of outrageous rumors over the years. One of which outlined the actors as swingers who would host parties for other swingers, and while they've since debunked the story, some elements are rooted in truth. For one, Shepard used to have open relationships with women when he was in his 20s, according to Bell during a July 2018 interview with The Mail. "It scared me when we first started dating," she said. "We don't have one and I don't know if we ever will," Bell added, though she hadn't entirely ruled out the possibility.

In the same conversation, the star of "The Good Place" was quoted as saying "monogamy is tough" because "you're still attracted to other people." Bell's candidness is likely what sent the rumor mill spinning, but she was simply being honest about the difficulties of a modern-day marriage. Bell again spoke about Shepard's attraction to other people during her interview with Self in May 2021 but insisted that she doesn't let it get to her. "He can tell me someone he finds attractive... But it doesn't make me feel like he's going to leave me for that person because I'm not allowing my self-esteem to be affected," she remarked.

Dax Shepard has been fairly open about his struggles with addiction, and in September 2018, he celebrated his 14th year of sobriety. Kristen Bell shared her support for him in a heartfelt Instagram post, writing, "I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it." Bell went on to praise Shepard for sharing his story with the world "with the hope it might inspire someone else to become the best version of themselves."

A couple of weeks later, Bell spoke on "WTF with Marc Maron" about Shepard's outlook towards substances, saying, "He doesn't have a problem with anyone else partaking in anything, provided that, within reason, they're not acting like a complete schmuck." The "Frozen" star added that her husband likes drugs and alcohol, but "he just is aware that he lost his privilege with them because... his brain does not have the chemistry to handle it."

In the same conversation, Bell admitted that she smokes weed at home about once a week, sometimes in front of Shepard. Despite her prefacing how he doesn't mind it, the consensus from internet users seemed to be that she lacked solidarity for her sober husband. Unfortunately, Shepard relapsed in 2020, but Bell announced that she would continue to support him.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

The COVID-19 pandemic was make or break for a lot of couples who were either forced to quarantine apart or remain in stiflingly close quarters for weeks at a time. Many celebrities seemed to get through just fine in their mansions, but Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell live a surprisingly normal life, and they had a tough time getting along throughout quarantine. "We've been at each other's throats real bad. Real bad," Bell told Katie Couric during an Instagram Live interview in March 2020. The couple insisted that they were getting along well with their kids, but the actor joked that she and Shepard have found each other "revolting" while social distancing at home.

There's a reason Bell and her husband are considered one of the most relatable couples in Hollywood, and the way they described being stuck at home together to Entertainment Tonight in April 2020 is one of them. "We've gotten on each other's last nerve these last couple days," Bell explained. There's no doubt that many of Bell and Shepard's fans could connect with this sentiment. She elaborated that spending practically every moment around each other has led them to over-analyze each other's actions and get riled up about it. "Nobody really needs time for that," she assessed. "That's useless."

Everyone has a different interpretation of what true love is, but for Kristen Bell, it's the lengths Dax Shepard went to help rid her of a painful condition. She had developed mastitis, which is often caused by a blocked milk duct, when she stopped breastfeeding. While it can be treated with antibiotics and continued breastfeeding, Bell was unable to see a doctor, so she sought Shepard's help.

"I realized the level of commitment this man had to me," the "Gossip Girl" star said while on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in November 2021. Shepard was a little more reserved about the incident, initially hesitating to discuss how he helped. "Let's just say that I extracted mastitis and we'll leave everyone's imagination to wander," the "Armchair Expert" host explained. "Let me also add that it is not easy and not rewarding." Shepard elaborated that while it was, of course, rewarding to help Bell while she was in pain, the act was like being "down in the trenches."

Like any couple, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have had their fair share of arguments. Overall, there's nothing weird about occasionally having a minor spat with a loved one. Still, according to the "Bad Moms" star, she and her husband can have arguments that spiral out of control — something that's perhaps not entirely healthy, especially when their children are around.

While on "Life is Short with Justin Long" in January 2020, Bell told her "Serious Moonlight" co-star about a monumental fight she had with Shepard. She said it started with a disagreement about how she asked her husband to do things around the house, but they soon "blacked out and got into a fight." Bell added that she doesn't remember everything that happened, but "what transpired was a lot of volume, a lot of harsh words being thrown around, and it was an angry, angry fight." She ended up taking her pillow to sleep in the other room, and the couple didn't speak for three days.

As disastrous as some of their arguments can be, many of which their children are bound to overhear, Bell and Shepard are firm about making up in front of their kids. As she told People in May 2024, "We do not have the makeup, our conflict resolution, be behind closed doors."

Being judged seems to come with the territory of being a parent, especially if you're raising children while being incredibly famous movie stars. Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have been the subject of this criticism several times over, and it's definitely not for being Hollywood's strictest parents. In fact, many people believe the couple's parenting style may be too lax — especially when Bell admitted to letting her children drink beer.

While on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" in July 2023, the actor laughed about how her children will try to order non-alcoholic beer while out at restaurants, as they grew up around Shepard drinking them. Some Twitter users joked about Bell's anecdote and saw no difference between a 0% beer and soda. However, others pointed out that some non-alcoholic beer brands still have a small amount of alcohol in them and that the actor could be unknowingly providing her children with alcohol.

The harsh criticism led Bell and Shepard to defend their parenting in an episode of "Armchair Expert" in August 2023. "I thought that was kind of a cute story but again, it turned into, 'I let my kids drink,'" a disheartened Bell remarked. "None of this seems to connect seeing as though you're so open about sobriety and addiction and we're a family that strives to educate everyone about substances."

Kristen Bell is full of parenting stories, but she and Dax Shepard again came under fire for a decision the couple made while in Copenhagen. During an episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in September 2024, the "Nobody Wants This" star told the talk show host how exhausting it can be to travel with kids, so she and Shepard came up with a parenting "hack."

"We stayed at this hotel that was right at Tivoli Gardens," Bell began. "The hotel opens up into the theme park and so we just were kind of like, 'Are we going to free-range parenting and roll the die here?'" She and Shepard decided to let their daughters Lincoln and Delta, who were 11 and 9 at the time, roam the park without them, saying their daughters would wake up early and leave the hotel on their own. "We didn't see them for seven hours. They were just running around Copenhagen," Bell quipped.

Many parents, including Kimmel himself, were shocked at the concept of allowing their children to explore a foreign city without supervision. According to Bell, she and Shepard enjoyed the long child-free days drinking coffee and playing cards, and eventually, their kids turned back up after their solo adventure. "And that was okay?" Kimmel asked. "It's real loosey goosey over there," she replied.