Kristen Bell Says Dax Shepard Told Her She Could Drug Test Him 'Whenever' She Wanted After His Relapse

Kristen Bell Speaks Out After Husband Dax Shepard’s Relapse Foll…

Anne Heche's Posthumous Memoir 'Call Me Anne': The Biggest Revel…

Harry Styles Splits His Pants Mid-Concert in Front of First Cele…

Ellen DeGeneres Shares Scary Video as Hometown Is Evacuated Amid…

TLC's Chilli and Matthew Lawrence Dating After His Split From Ch…

Ken Block, Racecar Driver and DC Shoes Co-Founder, Dead at 55 Af…

Sherri Shepherd Recalls Barbara Walters Fighting to Cast Her on …

Angela Bassett's Son Shares an Apology After Michael B. Jordan T…

Damar Hamlin: Medical Expert Gives Insight Into Athlete’s Condit…

'90 Day Fiancé': Big Ed’s Ex Rose Exposes Him for His Alleged Li…

'Varsity Blues' Mastermind Rick Singer Sentenced to 3.5 Years in…

Khloé Kardashian Shuts Down Accusations She Does Weight-Loss Inj…

'80 For Brady’: Behind the Scenes With Jane Fonda, Tom Brady and…

Jeremy Renner Takes His First Shower in a Week Amid ICU Hospital…

Kim Kardashian and North West Dance to Taylor Swift, Sing About …

Why Julie Chrisley Appears in Denial About Prison Time

Brian Tyree Henry and Danielle Deadwyler on Embracing Being the …

Brendan Fraser on Being 'Quite Emotional' Before Accepting Spotl…

'Extreme Sisters' Season 2 First Look (Exclusive)
Kristen Bell is opening up about Dax Shepard's September 2020 relapse. The 40-year-old actress covers the May issue of Self and, in the accompanying interview, reveals what changed in her relationship after her husband relapsed with pain pills after 16 years of sobriety.
"We realized, 'OK, our math wasn’t working.' I mean, he admitted it so quickly. It was like, 'I did something that I don’t want to do. I’m going down a bad road. I want help. I want your help,'" she recalls. "And I looked at him and I said, 'OK, you come up with the new math.'"
Part of their new normal was Shepard giving Bell "full privilege to call him on anything," and offering to be drug tested at any time.
"[He said,] 'You can drug-test me whenever you want. I’m going to buy some tests. I’m going to have them in the house. If you ever feel nervous, I want you to have access to this and I’ll do it, no questions asked,'" she shares.
While Bell didn't completely write off the idea of drug testing her husband, she's yet to do so.
"He’s just good at trying, and that’s all you can ask of anyone. No one’s perfect," she explains. "He's proven to me that he is committed to evolving and he loves personal growth."
Shepard's relapse came amid quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time Bell and Shepard reentered therapy because they were "just at each other’s throats." The decision to seek help, Bell says, made it so they "didn't kill each other."
"It’s so obvious now, that every two years, you have to go back," she says of therapy.
Being open about seeking marital help is just one example of Bell and Shepard's unfiltered presentation of their lives and relationship to the public, even with The Good Place actress' "desire, this knee-jerk, to present perfection."
"If we’re going to talk about who’s forced who to grow, I will give him the credit. [He] elevates vulnerability to an obsessive level," Bell says of Shepard, whom she also praises for encouraging her to speak out about her struggles with anxiety and depression.
As for why Shepard believes in being so candid with their followers and fans, Bell notes that her husband doesn't "want any young person feeling like there’s a fantasy out there that they just have to find the right person. That’s not how humans work. People change. People grow."

Through both the happy moments and the challenges, Bell says that she and Shepard are determined to make their marriage last.
"Do you want to be on the porch with someone when you’re 80?" she asks. "We both want that."
RELATED CONTENT:
Dax Shepard Shares How He Told His Kids About His Relapse
Dax Shepard Didn't Want to Go Public With Relapse: Here's Why He Did
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard Returned to Therapy for a 'Brush-Up'
Related Gallery