All the Times Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard Reminded Us That Love Still Exists

In all its messy, goofy, complicated glory.

By Billy Nilles Oct 17, 2018 10:00 AMTags
Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Oscars 2014Ethan Miller/WireImage

Love isn't easy. Marriage is even harder. And when you add Hollywood into the mix? It's a wonder any relationship has ever been able to survive.

And that's what makes what Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard all the more inspiring and, at times, seem like they might be one of the only couples in the industry who might actually last. There's a reason they routinely top our list of couples who better never, ever break up. And it's not because they make the whole married life thing look easy—though they do—but because they speak openly and honestly about their relationship and the work it takes to keep a spark alive after over a decade spent loved up. 

Over the years, they've reminded us time and time again that falling in love is easy, but lasting commitment takes work. They're relatable, they're adorable, and they never fail to remind us that love does indeed still exist.

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Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard: Romance Rewind
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The time Dax kept it all the way real about their $142 dollar wedding held in a small room at the Beverly Hills courthouse

"Friends of ours came to the courthouse, and it was just Kristen and I at this lonely courthouse, so they brought us this cake afterwards," he joked on Jimmy Kimmel Live weeks after tying the knot. "‘The World's Worst Wedding.' How many people can say they threw 'The World's Worst Wedding?'"

When Kristen let the world know just how much that intimate ceremony meant to her

"We got married in a tiny room in the Beverly Hills courthouse," she explained during a 2016 appearance on CBS Sunday Morning as a few candid images, revealed for the first time, filled the screen. "And it was still one of the best days of my life."

When Kristen teared up while talking about her husband

"He's a wonderful father," she said during that same CBS interview before getting emotional. "He knows the value of things. He was an addict for many, many years and he pulled himself out of it, and he's been sober for 11, 12 years now. And he knows how many times he's messed up and how many times he's been really closing to losing everything."

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When Dax surprised Kristen with roses on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

While his wife was promoting Bad Moms alongside Mila Kunis, Dax and Ashton Kutcher sent a Mother's Day message to their wives before arriving on stage with bouquets of flowers for their baby mamas. It was as adorable as you'd expect.

When Kristen honored Dax on his sobriety birthday

"I will forever be in awe of your dedication, and the level of fierce moral inventory you perform on yourself, like an emotional surgery, every single night," she wrote in a lengthy and emotional caption attached to an Instagram slideshow last month. "I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone, and I want you to know, I see you. I see how hard you work. You set an excellent example of being human."

When Dax revealed how he won his wife's heart

"She's way out of my league," he told Queen Latifah during a 2014 visit to her defunct talk show. "Learn to dance, young men, learn to dance. Make jokes and learn to dance, and you can land a Kristen Bell."

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When Kristen opened up about the work that goes on behind closed doors to keep her marriage healthy

"We got there by doing therapy when we needed it, and constantly doing fierce moral inventories," she told People in 2017. "We both take responsibility when we are wrong, and I think it is easy to work with him because I married him, because I enjoy spending time with him and I trust him. That is exactly what I want in someone that I work with."

When Dax surprised Kristen with the birthday gift of a life time

As she revealed to Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show in a now-infamous video, Kristen loves sloths very much and for her 31st birthday, Dax surprised her with a sloth encounter. "I had no context for knowing what it was. But I grab the dogs, walk into the back room of the house and I immediately was overcome and thought, 'There's a sloth near. There's a sloth here, it's close, it's gonna happen,'" she explained. "And I didn't know how to process that, because my entire life, had been waiting for this moment, where I would get to interact—I'm serious—with a sloth."

When Dax was Kristen's perfect wingman

Proving there's no need to be insecure when your marriage is healthy, Dax helped Kristen meet their mutual crush, The Night Of star Riz Ahmed, at the 2017 Golden Globes. "I saw him first, and I thought she might be too shy to go up to him so I'm going to break the ice," he said during yet another appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "I said to him: 'Hey, my wife has a crush on you. I would love to introduce you to her.'"

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When Dax paid sweet tribute to his early days with Kristen

While sharing an adorable photo of the pair kissing while posing with a dolphin on Instagram last year, the Parenthood star wrote, "This was nearly 10 years ago. I often wonder if I chose correctly. The dolphin's not on Facebook, so it's hard to know for sure."

When Kristen revealed their refreshingly blunt method of keeping their sex life alive

"Sometimes, we'll look at each other and we're like, ‘We need some intimacy and sex, like, right now,'" she told InStyle earlier this year. "We're just very honest about it."

When Dax revealed the most romantic thing he'd ever done for Kristen (that didn't involve a sloth)

"We got into this really crazy one-upmanship of — so she was doing a movie in Alaska and I was shooting Parenthood and I couldn't go and she was going away for a long time. But then my schedule changed and I didn't tell her, so I got the seat next to her on the airplane and then I sweet-talked the gate representative to let me on the plane early. So when she went to sit down, I was in her seat reading a newspaper and she kept going, ‘Excuse me, sir. Excuse me, sir. I think you're in my seat,'" he told People last year. "And then she noticed those hands look familiar and then she started bawling when she saw that I was on the flight," he said. "And then so she did it to me on the way back."

And lastly, when Kristen imparted some marriage wisdom on the rest of us to celebrate Valentine's Day

"In 10 years, when the dopamine has waned, remember: Life is a crazy ride. It's a privilege to go through it with a partner. Take necessary separateness. It will make your marriage better," she wrote in a handwritten letter shared on Instagram. "Loving someone despite their faults, failings or character defects is the most powerful loving thing you can do."

Happy anniversary, you two! Here's to many, many more!