Dax Shepard has identified his and Kristen Bell’s two daughters entering puberty as the primary pressure point in their nearly two-decade relationship.
The actor, 51, made the admission on Wednesday’s episode of his “Armchair Expert” podcast while speaking with “Nobody Wants This” creator Erin Foster and her sister, Sara. Shepard and Bell, who have been together since 2007 and married since 2013, share Lincoln, 13, and Delta, 11.
Shepard explained that the couple have generally managed their conflicts well over 19 years, but parenting through adolescence has introduced fresh complications. “It throws the whole dynamic into a new zone that you have to figure out,” he told the Foster sisters.
The “Parenthood” alum traced the arc of parental difficulty from infancy through the preteen years. “You know, I think it’s really hard when they’re really little because you care so much about the decisions you’re making with the kid,” he continued. “You’re certain you can f–k it up.”
He described a relative calm between ages six and puberty, when routines feel settled. “You’re like, ‘This is working out pretty good. I think this compromise, however we’re doing it, is working,'” Shepard noted.
That stability fractures, he said, when new developmental stages demand revised approaches. “And then there’s a whole new situation” involving the children, he elaborated, forcing him and Bell to devise “a new strategy” they don’t always see eye to eye on. “And then there’s more stress.”
Shepard speculated that without children, their union might face fewer obstacles. “I like to think if we didn’t have kids, it would be pretty smooth sailing,” he remarked.
Despite the friction, Shepard drew a sharp distinction between their disagreements and more explosive conflict styles. “We don’t scream at each other or swear at each other,” he insisted.
The actor acknowledged his own volume contributes to tension, and that he and Bell, 44, sometimes prolong unresolved matters. “We’ll kick something down the road for a week,” he shared. “We’ll go to bed for a week where it’s like, ‘We’re gonna have to talk about this eventually.'”
Scheduling these conversations around their children’s presence becomes its own logistical puzzle. “What day will that be? When will there be enough free air in the f–king room without the kids to mount this?” Shepard asked. “You might have a reprieve from the kids’ stuff we’re doing. So certainly, there’s like four or five nights in a row where you’re like, ‘There’s a talk looming. There will be a sit-down.'”
Bell has recently offered her own unvarnished assessments of their domestic life. Speaking to Bustle, the “Frozen” star disclosed that she cries “weekly” while managing her relationship with Shepard and motherhood under public scrutiny. She characterized her outspokenness about family difficulties as deliberate, aimed at supporting other parents, while maintaining that her foremost responsibility is to shield Lincoln and Delta.
The couple’s unconventional parenting choices have previously drawn attention. Bell has copped to giving the children non-alcoholic beer, permitting curse words, and deploying them to report on Shepard during her absences. Last November on “Armchair Expert,” Shepard stated they intentionally cultivate “entitled” and “disrespectful” daughters.
“What I’m prioritizing… Is when they’re 19 and their boss is a f–king creep, I want them to talk back,” he declared. “I want them to always advocate for themselves, whether I think they’re right or wrong.”
The current strain arrives years after a previous marital crucible. In 2020, Shepard publicly revealed a relapse into painkiller addiction following 16 years of sobriety, an episode he and Bell have since described as requiring substantial recovery work together.
Shepard’s latest podcast comments mark a continuation of the pair’s pattern of radical transparency about their partnership, a stance that has generated both audience connection and periodic backlash. Bell’s recent anniversary social media tribute to Shepard, which referenced historical spousal homicide in a joking tone, divided online commenters and prompted her to subsequently address the reaction.
The “Veronica Mars” actress has also questioned conventional relationship structures in press interviews, telling outlets that she finds monogamy improbable in theory while remaining committed to it in practice with Shepard.
Through the current parenting challenges, both have emphasized their refusal to present a polished facade. Bell’s weekly tears and Shepard’s frank cataloguing of postponed arguments and puberty-driven stress underscore a consistent message: the performance of effortless family life holds no appeal for them.
Shepard’s podcast conversation with the Foster sisters ranged across these ongoing negotiations without resolving them, suggesting the sit-downs he described will continue as Lincoln and Delta move deeper into adolescence.
Shepard and Bell are scheduled to continue their respective projects with Shepard hosting upcoming “Armchair Expert” episodes and Bell appearing in forthcoming film and television roles.