Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have become some people’s favorite couple in Hollywood, but others scrutinize their every move.
Bell started dating Shepard in 2007. The couple got engaged in 2009, eventually tying the knot in 2013. Bell and Shepard went on to welcome daughters Lincoln (born in March 2013) and Delta (born in December 2014).
While their relationship has made headlines since the start, Shepard’s popular podcast, “Armchair Expert,” and Bell’s success on Netflix’s Nobody Wants has put even more attention on the pair.
“Having someone I feel that is very opposite from me is certainly something that I feel. I feel like my real-life husband and I are ‘opposites attract,’” she told People while comparing her onscreen romance with Adam Brody to her real-like marriage ahead of the release of season 2 in October 2025. “But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t make it work, or didn’t want to make it work.”
Keep scrolling for a full breakdown on why people can’t stop talking about Bell and Shepard:
The Shower of It All
In 2021, Shepard and Bell made major headlines for sharing their showering habits.
The couple admitted to only giving their daughters showers when they start to “stink” during an interview on The View at the time. Shepard and Bell said they used to give their girls a bath “every single night before bed,” but things changed as they got older.
“Once you catch a whiff, that’s biology’s way of letting you know you need to clean it up,” Bell said, noting that they sometimes would go “five or six days” without washing the girls. “There’s a red flag, because honestly, it’s just bacteria. And once you get the bacteria, you gotta be like, ‘Get in the tub or the shower.’”
Keeping It Real
Months after the shower admission, Bell and Shepard got real about how they speak with their daughters about sex.
“The woman takes the man’s penis and puts it in her vagina,” he said during a 2021 “Armchair Expert” episode. “Right away it’s like, you’re in charge of this and you will decide to put this in your vagina. Not the man puts his penis in your vagina.”
He said it was a “nice little adjustment” they made to discuss consent with their kids.
Letting the Kids Loose
Bell made headlines in September 2024 when she admitted to letting her daughters roam free during a family trip to Denmark.
“The hack is when we went to Copenhagen, we stayed at this hotel that was right at Tivoli Gardens, which is like a 7-acre theme park. It’s an old one,” she said on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. “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?’ They woke up at, like, 6 every morning. They scanned their bracelets to go outside. [We] didn’t see them for seven hours. Just running around Copenhagen.”
She said it was “heaven” for her and Shepard.
“We just had coffee. We played Spades, and then around 3, we’d be like, ‘Anybody see them?’” she recalled. “And then one of them would run up and need a Band-Aid or whatever.”
More Than 1 Naked Photo
Over the years, Shepard has not been shy when it comes to showing off his wife.
In May 2021, he made headlines for sharing a photo of Bell doing naked yoga to celebrate Mother’s Day.
“Mom’ing has changed since I was a kid … and I’m here for it. Look at this specimen: kind, patient, nurturing, hilarious, Uber talented, generous, hard AND soft,” he captioned the since-deleted Instagram post. “My girls and I hit the MegaMom Lottery. We are so grateful and so in love with you.”
Years later, he gave social media followers more than they bargained for after Bell was nominated for a 2025 Emmy Award. He posted a photo of Bell’s butt up in the air — but it was blurred out for the folks at home.
“People might not know everything that happens behind the scenes in order to create an Emmy nominated performance like Kristen’s,” he captioned the photo. “This may or may not have been a part of her training, but it felt right. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!”
The Anniversary Post — And What Came After
Bell shared a controversial post when celebrating her and Shepard’s 12th anniversary in October 2025.
“Happy 12th wedding anniversary to the man who once said to me: ‘I would never kill you,” she captioned the post. “A lot of men have killed their wives at a certain point. Even though I’m heavily incentivized to kill you, I never would.’”
Instagram users called out Bell for writing that caption during Domestic Violence Awareness. The National Network to End Domestic Violence shared a statement to Page Six amid the controversy.
“There’s nothing funny about domestic violence ‘jokes’ that trivialize the very real fear, trauma and pain that millions of victims and survivors face each day,” they shared. “Especially during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we all have a responsibility to support victims and survivors, to invest in proven solutions and to speak about this issue with the seriousness it deserves.”
Their Own Kind of Humor
After the anniversary post, a video of them from 2012 resurfaced where Shepard made an off-color joke about “hitting” Bell. The two were discussing riding in a car he worked on with Bell in the passenger seat.
“He was so excited. We drove to brunch and the first thing I said, five minutes into the ride, I said, ‘This sounds like it’s gonna break,’” she said, recalling that Shepard was “very offended” by her reaction.
“And then I hit her several times,” Shepard replied, joking. Bell responded, “And then I got beat up, and guess what — I never opened my mouth again.”
Dax Shepard’s Controversial Flirting Tactic
During an October 2026 episode of Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast featuring guests Bell, Justine Lupe, Timothy Simons and Adam Brody, the Frozen star revealed that her husband flirts with her by complimenting other people.
“If we go to a dinner or something, like, there’s a couple things Dax does where he doesn’t have to look up and wink at me, but I know that he’s just being the best boy,” she said. “We’ll be at dinner, and, like, he’ll say to the waiter or waitress, he’ll go, ‘Wow, you have incredible eyelashes, gorgeous eyes, great job.’”
When Shepard’s cohost, Monica Padman, pointed out that this is a form of flirting with other women, Bell responded, “But that’s flirting with me, because he just made someone else feel good.”
“‘Cause he’s gonna have zero interaction with — let’s say it is a girl. He’s gonna have zero interaction with this girl for the rest of his life. The chances of him ever having another conversation with her are so microscopic,” she continued. “But to me, to know that my partner actively smiles at people and gives them compliments [makes me feel good].”
Bell also said that Shepard has never crossed the line and gone too far with his compliments.
“You’ve never done anything that’s felt even borderline … you, like, you’ll point out someone has great eyebrows, or great cheekbones,” she said.
“That’s why it makes me fluttery inside. That’s why it gives me butterflies,” Bell noted. “Because everyone saw it, he’s the only one that said it, maybe she hadn’t had a compliment today. And I’m with the guy that’s pouring compliments on people? Making people feel good?”
The revelation stirred up controversy as fans questioned whether this is respectful behavior in a relationship.
