Kristen Bell is celebrating the personal growth of her husband, Dax Shepard.
“He’s committed to growth in all aspects,” the Nobody Wants This star, 46, said during a recent appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. Bell was asked what it is like being with “a man who’s emotionally aspirational and behaviorally got his stuff together and works on himself.”
Bell described Shepard, 51, as a “lifelong learner” with a “growth mindset.”
“I call him a vulneraboy,” she added. “Because he is vulnerable. He knows a lot of stuff, but he’s also not afraid or ashamed to say, ‘I don’t know, I’ve never experienced this before.’ And that’s very sexy.”
Bell’s remarks follow a recent revelation about the way Shepard flirts with her, which sparked debate after she discussed it on his “Armchair Expert” podcast.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have long been candid about the ups and downs of their relationship. Married since 2013, the couple share daughters Lincoln and Delta and have faced public scrutiny over everything from contentious social media posts to celebrity commentary about their marriage. Through it all, both Bell and […]
“If we go to a dinner or something, 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 on October 26. “We’ll be at dinner, and he’ll say to the waiter or waitress, ‘Wow, you have incredible eyelashes, gorgeous eyes, great job.’”
When Shepard’s cohost, Monica Padman, observed that some people might interpret the behavior as flirting with others, Bell said it is actually how he flirts with her.
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“Because he just made someone else feel good,” she explained. “He’s going to have zero interaction with — let’s say it is a girl — this girl for the rest of his life. The chances of him ever having another conversation with her are so microscopic. But for me, knowing that my partner actively smiles at people and gives them compliments [makes me feel good].”
A clip of Bell discussing the subject spread widely on social media, with critics accusing Shepard of being unfaithful and of persuading his wife to accept the behavior.
Shepard addressed the backlash on the Monday, November 9, episode of his podcast, criticizing what he called a “weird narrative” portraying him as “controlling, abusive, now flirting with people in public, which I don’t do.”
Dax Shepard may be approaching two decades with Kristen Bell, but the “Armchair Expert” host has been linked to several famous women in the past and remains friendly with many of his former partners. Shepard has discussed previous relationships with Kate Hudson and Ashley […]
“For me, growing up around certain men who behaved a certain way, and then literally dedicating my whole life to being the opposite of all that … I don’t ever yell at my children,” he said, referring to his and Bell’s daughters, Lincoln, 13, and Delta, 11. “I don’t swear at them. I don’t yell at my wife. To have given it my all to be the opposite of what now some group of people is saying I am is hard, of course. So hard. I don’t love it.”
Shepard added that he found the narrative “deeply insulting” to Bell because it suggested she would allow emotional abuse to occur in front of their daughters.
“We’re saying I flirt with Kristen by tipping people a lot, and I flirt with Kristen by complimenting people. If you think I’m complimenting hot young waitresses, you got a problem, right?” he said. “I’m finding the dude I don’t think has had a compliment in a while and telling him I love his shoes. It’s always somebody I want to make their day. Those compliments [are] flirting with Kristen. … I will offer publicly $10 million to any server you can find that I have given my number to or hit on.”
Shepard concluded, “Generally, I can brush [these controversies] off, but when we’re now on year two of a new [one] … it starts making me think, ‘Oh, is this now my f***ing role going forward? Every four months there’s another thing about me being a terrible man.’ And that makes me want to go away.”