Dax Shepard Reacts to Rumors That He and Wife Kristen Bell Are ‘Swingers’

Dax Shepard is shutting down rumors that he and wife Kristen Bell are “Hollywood swingers.” The actor and podcaster addressed the lingering speculation about his marriage and revealed how famous friends like Jimmy Kimmel have poked fun at the gossip during the Season 5 premiere of The Drew Barrymore Show on Monday, Sept. 9.

“There was the most exciting tabloid story that we were Hollywood swingers and we hosted swing parties, this was in the tabloids,” Shepard told host Drew Barrymore. “My favorite part of that happening was we got a lot of texts from other friends of ours saying, ‘How could you not have invited me to the swinger party?’”

He clarified that his friends were “teasing of course, because they know us and they know we are not hosting swinger parties.” The joking around was appreciated, however. “I just thought that was great to receive a text from Kimmel saying, ‘My feelings are quite hurt that [wife Molly McNearney] and I weren’t invited to this swingers party.’”

Barrymore followed up on the Armchair Expert host’s explanation by asking if there was any couple “that you two do fantasize about getting in bed with,” but Shepard didn’t have an immediate answer. “There’s a lot of hot couples out there, but no, we have not crossed that divide with anyone,” he said.

He added, “You know who we are most in love with? We’re in love with Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen.” Shepard gushed that Bell’s The Good Place co-stars are “so dreamy as a couple” that “you just kind of want to be in their marriage.” He joked, “It’s not so much that Kristen even wants to bring me along or I want to bring her along – you just want to be in their marriage.” 

Monday wasn’t the first time Shepard and Bell have shut down swinging rumors. On a 2023 episode of Armchair Expert, the Veronica Mars actress revealed she thinks Shepard’s jokes about key parties sparked the chatter about their marriage. “We’ll have a dinner party or something and, as we’re sitting down, you’ll say, ‘Everybody leave your keys,’” she told her husband. “Like, you use it as a joke.”

Shepard agreed that he’s also made the same joke to podcast guests only to realize that “we do not have the same sense of humor,” adding, “I was like, ‘Hey, if you guys are ever in L.A. and you wanna swing!’” Bell shrugged that “a lot of people don’t get jokes,” continuing, “That’s actually something I have been thinking about lately because it’s such a bummer that everything you say has to be taken so literally that there’s no room for fun in expression or language anymore when you’re telling a story because you better have the facts right. It’s just such a lame way to communicate.”