Ethan Miller/WireImageHonesty makes the heart grow fonder.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are arguably one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. It seems that anytime they post an adorable picture together or sweetly pose on a red carpet, they make headlines for being the epitome of the perfect couple. But over the years, they've been adamant about being open and honest about their shortcomings as a couple, and making sure the sweet headlines don't outshine the truth that sometimes long lasting love is hard to maintain.
Kristen sat down with Justin Long for his podcast Life Is Short With Justin Long produced by Wondery, and really broke down a play by play of an argument she had with her husband recently. In the nearly two-hour episode, Kristen revealed that she and her loving husband Dax didn't talk to each other for nearly three days because of a disagreement they had with each other about housework.
"Something happened with Dax and I early on where we decided we were never going to not be asked about our relationship," she shared. "So if we were going to talk about it, let's make sure we show the good, the bad, and the ugly and how we handle it. Let's not make it saccharin, and we really try hard to not make it saccharin, and we talk about the fact that we do fight, we do go to therapy, we dislike each other a lot sometimes."
While Justin assumes that the not liking each other phase of a relationship would become few and far between over the years, Kristin acknowledged that it never becomes easier. "In fact, we had this pretty incredible fight recently. Incredible. I mean like top of the lungs screaming," she shared. "It was about things around the house that I felt I needed help with. We have a relationship where you are supposed to be able to say I need your help with this. For those of you listening I'm telling this from my perspective, he's not here to defend himself."
She then explained the situation that led to their huge fight. "I left a note and I was like, 'Hey dad! Would you mind taking the two towels in the dryer and folding them and then like one other thing.' I was like that's ten minutes of work, I can say that," she shared about the situation that was fine until the next day. "He goes, 'When you leave me notes, I feel really controlled,' and he launched into how he felt about it." While Kristen admits she reacted calmly at first, things quickly took a turn for the ugly.
"I don't actually remember what happened, but what transpired was a lot of volume, a lot of harsh words being thrown around, and it was an angry, angry fight about how nobody does anything for anybody else," she revealed. "I grabbed my pillow and I stomped down the hall and I sleep in the front room and I'm crying. We don't talk for three days."
Although they have kids, the only thing the two communicated about during that time was their needs. Until Kristen visited a dog cafe and decided to bring home a rescue, which Dax was all for, and it turns out their new dog Frank was an olive branch of sorts between the couple.
"I didn't get an apology, but I got a dog! This is so much better than an apology. So I bring the dog home, it's great," she shared. "We never talked about that fight ever, but I will say this: Every single thing that I have needed done or thought, 'I'd want help with this,' since that fight, he has been ahead of. I couldn't complain about him if I tried right now."
Everyone's love story is different, but Kristen and Dax will never stop fighting for theirs.