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Kristen Bell Details “the Real Stuff" in Family Bond With Dax Shepard
Dax Shepard is forever grateful for this kindness.
The Parenthood alum recently detailed how his wife Kristen Bell showed up for him—literally—when he was feeling overwhelmed by the number of people visiting his dad, Dave Shepard, in the hospital while he was dying in 2012.
“His room was an unending parade of many, many people, and they were all lovely and well intentioned, but it put me in the position of them grieving and me having to comfort them,” Dax recalled to Anderson Cooper during a conversation shared to CNN’s TikTok April 8. “I was starting to resent that I couldn't just be in there with my dad. And I was starting to get really quite overwhelmed with that.”
He decided to step out to his car for a few minutes, where he called Kristen “just to vent.” What happened next Dax described as “unbelievable.”
“I was complaining, and she said, ‘It's okay, I'm here. Look to the left,’” Dax said, growing emotional as he recalled the moment. “We live in California, and I'm in Detroit, and I look to my left, and she's standing there, seven months pregnant."
He continued, "She had flown, she knew I was struggling, and she had flown and not told me and figured out where this hospital was. Was standing next to the car.”
Through tears, he added, “What a champ, you know?”
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME
He and Kristen then went and visited with Dax’s father, who was able to feel Kristen’s baby bump. The Forgetting Sarah Marshall actress was pregnant with the couple’s eldest daughter, Lincoln, at the time. They’d welcome their second daughter Delta a year later.
Following Dax’s story, Anderson read aloud a blog post Dax had written in 2013, detailing his father’s death from cancer and Kristen’s kind gift.
“He was smiling from ear to ear, sitting contentedly, unable to put together a sentence, but still capable of connecting to the new family member we were creating,” Dax wrote at the time of his dad being able to feel his soon-to-be granddaughter. “He wasn't going to make it to the birth, but that didn't get in the way of him meeting the new baby. It was an emotional and triumphant moment, one I will never forget.”
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He added, “If I live to be 1000, I will still be in debt to my wife for giving him that one last thrill.”
And though Dax was almost overcome with emotion, he managed to quip, “She’s a gangster, y’all.”
Kristen and Dax recently celebrated Lincoln’s 12th birthday in March and in her birthday tribute, Kristen reflected on the impact welcoming a child at that time has had on their family.
“She reminds us every day that family is literally the best of it- the real stuff,” she wrote in her March 27 tribute. “(And also to never underestimate how good it feels to hold someone’s hand).”
For more of the most important moments in Kristen and Dax’s partnership, read on.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Who Is This?
"Who is this sparkly creature?'" Dax recalled thinking when he met Kristen at a friend's birthday dinner in 2007. After running into each other again two weeks later at a hockey game they decided to accept fate and start dating.
Opposites Attract
The old saying rings true for this couple, who both had doubts to go along with the butterflies early on. Dax said his playboy past didn't go unnoticed by "good girl" Kristen, who told Good Housekeeping, "We're the Paula Abdul video 'Opposites Attract' personified."
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The Engagement
The two got engaged in late 2009 while co-starring in When In Rome together. They weren't immune to the romance of the Italian city and just like in their movie, the couple fell under a real life love spell.
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Snuggling Sweethearts
In an interview about her relationship with Dax in 2010, Kristen shared,"A snuggle party can fix anything—it's true."
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The Wedding
The couple got married in a simple ceremony at a Beverly Hills courthouse in 2013 after announcing their plans to wed on Twitter earlier in the year. Their choice to forego an extravagant wedding made their love story even more romantic to fans.
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Next Comes the Baby Carriage
Bell gave birth to their first child, a girl they named Lincoln, in March 2013. Fiercely protective of her daughter's privacy, Kristen quipped, "I would really like to see the aftermath of the first person who tries to take a picture of Lincoln."
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Parents of Two
In December 2014 the couple had their second daughter, Delta.
The Plot Twist
In an interview with Good Housekeeping in May 2015 Kristen shared that she and her hubby attend couples counseling when they need to work through an issue saying, "Therapy is not something to be embarrassed about."
Instagram Official
Kristen Bell finally joined Instagram in 2016 and inaugurated her account with a closeup of her and her husband sharing a kiss.
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Happily Ever After
The two looked just as in love as ever at the premiere of Dax's new movie Chips in March 2017.
Happy Fourth!
They two celebrated the 2017 Fourth of July holiday in style.
Keepin' It Real
The pair continues to prove that they're just like any other couple. They openly share that they go to marriage counseling and sometimes fight. However what remains constant is their respect for each other. Kristen shared her marriage advice on Instagram writing, "Loving someone despite their faults, failings, or character defects, is the most powerful loving thing you can do. Rejoice in what makes the other person happy and allow them their individual interests."
Humor Is Key
A couple that isn't afraid to be silly together is a couple that stays together. The pair often shares hilarious shots on social media including when they dressed up for a Peaky Blinders themed birthday party. Of course, they killed it.
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Everybody Wants This
Kristen celebrated Dax's 50th birthday in 2025 with a carousel of photos showcasing a sampling of their affectionate moments.
"Happy birthday to the most affectionate 220 lbs man that ever [existed]," she wrote. "I cannot imagine life without you."
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