Dax Shepard initially refused to marry Kristen Bell because he didn’t believe in marriage.
The longtime couple recalled their engagement and the comedian’s hesitation to propose during Monday’s episode of their podcast “Armchair Expert.”
“You told me you don’t believe in marriage,” the “Nobody Wants That” actress told Shepard. “You told me why. I didn’t think there would ever be an answer because I was like, ‘I like this tradition.'”
According to Bell, Shepard then reasoned, “A piece of paper filed in a courthouse somewhere in California is not going to dictate how I treat you. That’s just not the case. So I’m going to treat you well and act as your partner for the rest of your life, but that has nothing to do with that piece of paper.”
Although she’s more “traditional,” she admitted that at the time, the “Parenthood” actor made a “pretty valid point.”
“I was like, ‘OK, well, he treats me like his wife, so who cares?'”
Shepard, 51, added: “There was an anarchist view that I don’t need to ask the state of California if we can be together and then ask them if we can’t be together. »
The podcast host also pointed out that he has a negative perception of marriage since he and the “Veronica Mars” actress both come from broken homes.
However, after the couple spent a “lovely Christmas Eve” with their family, Shepard decided to pop the question.
“We were in bed that night and you were kind of expressing your gratitude for this little family that we were,” he recalled.
The “Hit and Run” actor had bought a ring and was going to surprise Bell, 46, with a proposal at her favorite restaurant a month later, but the moment seemed too perfect.
“And I was like, ‘Oh, this is the moment I’m going to try to recreate in a month at Stanley’s over a salad, but it’s coming.’ I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’ll just go get the ring now.’
Shepard then remembers going into their bedroom closet and rummaging in a jacket pocket to find the engagement ring. At that point, Bell suspected a marriage proposal was about to take place.
“She’s already crying by the time I get back to bed,” Shepard said with a laugh.
“He got down on one knee and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ And then I started sobbing really, really hard because it was so overwhelming, something I didn’t think would happen,” the “Good Place” actress said.
The couple began dating in 2007 and announced their engagement in 2010.
Bell and Shepard welcomed their daughter Lincoln in March 2013, seven months before getting married at the Beverly Hills County Clerk’s Office.
They welcomed their second daughter, Delta, in December 2014.
The couple has been very open about their relationship over the years, including going to couples therapy from the start and not having a prenup.
Earlier this month, Bell admitted she cried “every week” while dealing with the challenges of marriage and parenthood.
“It’s hard,” she told Bustle. “Don’t think that because I’m in front of your TV it’s easy for me.”
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