Dax Shepard Says He Didn’t Initially Want to Marry Kristen Bell—and Reveals What Changed His Mind

Juliana UkiomogbeMon, October 26, 2026 at 5:02 PM UTC

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Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty ImagesThe Gist -

Kristen Bell appeared on her husband Dax Shepard’s podcast, “Armchair Expert,” on October 26.

Bell revealed that Shepard initially told her he didn’t “believe in marriage.”

“I don’t have to ask the state of California if we can be together, and then ask them if we cannot be together,” Shepard said.

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell shared insights into their relationship on the October 26 episode of his podcast, “Armchair Expert,” and explained his initial hesitation to get married.

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell at the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards.Credit: Francis Specker/CBS via Getty Images

During the conversation, Bell, 46, recalled that Shepard, 51, once told her that he didn’t “believe in marriage.”

“He told me why,” Bell said. “He said, ‘A piece of paper filed at a courthouse somewhere in California is not going to dictate how I treat you. It’s just not. So I’m going to treat you well and act like your partner for the rest of your life, but it has nothing to do with that piece of paper.’”

Shepard then added that he had an “anarchist point of view” about marriage at the time, saying, “I don’t have to ask the state of California if we can be together, and then ask them if we cannot be together.” Additionally, he also shared that he and Bell are “children of multiple divorces.”

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell at the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 11, 2026.Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images

“We got like eight divorces between the two of us,” he said. “I was like, ‘What does this mean? This thing doesn’t mean anything.’”

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While the Nobody Wants This star said she subsequently accepted his relationship terms because “he treats me like his wife,” Shepard changed his mind about marriage one Christmas Eve, when Bell picked up his parents from Detroit to spend the holidays with them in California.

“We had a really beautiful Christmas Eve in the house,” the podcast host said. “That’s what happened, for me, was we had had this beautiful Christmas Eve with my family and we were in bed that night, and you were kind of expressing gratitude for this little family we were making.”

Shepard continued, “I was like, ‘Fuck it. I’m just going to go get the ring now.’ And then I went into the closet. I had it in a jacket pocket.” Bell said she “sensed” what he was up to “immediately,” and when he finally popped the question, she “started sobbing really, really hard because that was very overwhelming [and] something I didn’t think was coming.”

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell in 2025.Credit: Getty Images

The couple has been married since 2013 and share two daughters, Lincoln, 13, and Delta, 11.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”