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‘We are not perfect’: Inside Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard’s relationship

Move over Adam Brody, this is Kristen's real life love story
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard (Getty)
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After a two-year hiatus from our TV screens, Kristen Bell 
still hadn’t made up her mind exactly when she would make her return to acting.

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She was loving the time she had taken for herself to be with her husband, Dax Shepard, and their daughters, Lincoln,11, and Delta, 9. But the decision was made for her as soon as she read the script for rom-com series Nobody Wants This.

“I knew that this was the perfect project to come back with,” Bell, 44, tells WHO. “I just loved how different it was. I haven’t seen anything like this for a long time. It’s a beautiful rom-com involving two people who could not be more different.”

Kristen Bell and Adam Brody in Nobody Wants This
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody in Nobody Wants This (Credit: NETFLIX)

The series, coming in the midst of a rom-com revival, follows the surprise relationship between Bell’s Joanne, an agnostic, brash podcaster, and a newly single rabbi, Noah, played by Adam Brody.

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“They have this extreme chemistry from the moment they meet and it’s really 
a question of how they handle that,” she explains. “This isn’t a love story about two gorgeous 21-years-olds. I just love how this is a show that explores what makes people different and similar at the same time, and how much you compromise or not. It’s a very grounded love story.”

The adage that opposites attract is not just something Bell believes in, she lives it, too.

“My husband is my opposite in every way,” she says with a laugh. “We are constantly disagreeing about things, but that just keeps it fun and interesting. I always want to hear what his opinion is, even if I disagree. It’s very stimulating.”

After first meeting in 2007, the couple wed in 2013, marrying in a private ceremony at the Beverly Hills courthouse. While they keep their children out of the spotlight, they have been open about their parenting strategies and the challenges they face as a couple.

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Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard portrait
This year will mark the couple’s 11th wedding anniversary (Credit: GETTY)

Shepard, 49, who has battled addiction in the past, is candid on his podcast, Armchair Expert, on which Bell has appeared several times. They’ve spoken about their own mental health, particularly during the pandemic, and how they’ve benefited from therapy, both as a couple and separately “so that we could talk s–t about each other”, as she once explained on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

“The truth is we are not perfect,” Bell tells WHO. “Nobody is. I love my husband so much but he is not perfect and neither am I. We worked hard to be the best version of ourselves for each other and to earn each other as partners. The idea that there is a perfect someone out there for everyone is not something we have ever believed in. You have to work at it and on yourself to earn it.”

No wonder Nobody Wants This, created by Erin Foster and loosely based on her own experience, appealed to Bell. And it’s not just Bell who fell in love with the project. The witty, emotional roller-coaster of a story has hooked viewers – and instrumental in making the series such a hit has been the on-screen chemistry between the two leads.

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Bell, who was also an executive producer of the series, says she only ever wanted Brody, who she has been friends with for more than a decade, to play her character’s love interest.

 “I am such a huge fan of Adam’s work and I was so excited to work with him on this,” she says. “As soon as I read the script, I knew he would be the perfect Noah and I knew we would have chemistry. He’s just so charismatic. We had a great time together.”

Kristen and Dax share two daughters Lincoln, 11 and Delta, 9.
Kristen and Dax share two daughters Lincoln, 11 and Delta, 9. (Credit: Instagram)

Bell admits she and Brody, who is married to Leighton Meester, heat up the screen. And Shepard agrees. “Even I can acknowledge watching it, like, ‘Whoa, that’s hot,’” she revealed in a recent eTalk. “My husband said the same thing. Watching the first episode, he was like, ‘Oh, my God, I want you to kiss him so badly.’”

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And when Joanne does lock lips with Noah, Bell reckons it’s the “best on-screen kiss I have ever done because of how we were able to build up anticipation for it”. Quick to clarify, she adds with a laugh, “It wasn’t the kiss itself, as wonderful as Adam is, it was more about the way it captures the moment when it finally comes. It feels really special.”

Bell knows her break from TV work has been good for her, but she’s excited to be back and being creative again. “I don’t really know how to describe it, but I do feel different,” she says. “I feel more whole.”

As well as seeing more of Bell herself, she hints that we might see more of Joanne and Noah, too. “I think because this is about the nitty-gritty of real relationships and the complexities of modern-day dating, there will always be more to tell and more seasons to make,” she tells WHO.

How long were Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell together?

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell have been together for seventeen years.

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The couple met in 2007 and began dating soon after. At first Shepard wasn’t ready to commit after coming out of a nine year open relationship, so he told Bell, “I can’t have this right now. I think you’re wonderful, but I am still dating other people,” she confessed to POPSUGAR in 2017.

But it only took four days for him to realise he made the wrong decision, 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,’ and he came back.”

The pair have been together ever since and got engaged in 2009, but wanted to wait until same sex marriage was legal in California before tying the knot themselves.

Are Kristen and Dax still married?

They eventually did marry in October 2013, just less than four months after California legalised gay marriage. The couple are still married and will mark their 11th wedding anniversary in October 2024.

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How many kids do Kristen and Dax have?

The couple have two daughters together Lincoln, 11, and Delta, 9.

In 2022 Shepard revealed to The Endless Honeymoon podcast that the couple were happy with only one child at first, but wanted Lincoln to have a sibling.

“We travel a lot. It’s not fair to bring this little human everywhere we go and deal with only adults. We owe it to her to give her a playmate that travels with us,” he said.

“We love her enough to do something we don’t really want to do, which is, have a second ’cause we were so absolutely happy with just the one.”

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The family now enjoy their trips as a quartet.

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