Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard Respond to Swingers Rumors
Bell says the rumor started because her husband would "frequently make key party jokes."
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have officially responded to rumors that they are swingers. In a recent episode of the Armchair Expert podcast — which Shepherd hosts with Monica Padman — the couple discussed the more bizarre and unusual headlines they've read about themselves. At one point, the "swinger" claims came up, and Bell explained that she thinks she knows what caused them to emerge.
"It's because you frequently make key party jokes," she explained. "We'll have a dinner party or something, and as we're sitting down, you'll say, 'Everybody leave your keys.'" Shepard admitted that he's also made the joke to "many of the guests" who've appeared on his podcast. "Some of them, I realize afterwards, 'Oh, we do not have the same sense of humor,'" he quipped. "I was like, 'Hey, if you guys are ever in L.A. and you wanna swing.'"
For Bell, the fact that many people they encounter don't get the joke is a bit of a surprise. "A lot of people don't get jokes," she offered. "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." Bell and Shepard have been married since 2013 and share two children.
Notably, In 2021, Padman joked that she and the couple are in a "three-way marriage," during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! "Well, we were in a three-way marriage," she joked, then adding that the relationship was "not yet" sexual. Shepard then teased, "It's all the responsibilities of two wives without the sex," then going on to clarify that he and Bell are "not actually bed hoppers," but that Padman did stay with them during the Covid-19 pandemic so that she and Shepard could continue their podcast.
"It hit critical mass [one] month in because Kristen 'got COVID,'" Padman recalled. "We thought. So, she was in her room quarantining on her own. At the same time, Dax broke his hand – couldn't make food, couldn't help with anything." Padman quickly realized this was not an arraignment she wished to continue. "I was there, like, 'Oh, I have to take care of all of these children while [Dax and Kristen] are on vacation.' OK, bye," she quipped. "I left."