Kristen Bell Breaks Her Silence About Husband Dax Shepard’s Relapse

Kristen Bell is supporting her husband, Dax Shepard, after he recently shared publicly he had relapsed with prescription medication after 16 years of sobriety. The actress addresses her husband’s sobriety journey during Wednesday’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show, saying he has been doing “really great” after coming forward about his relapse.

“I mean look, everybody’s up against their own demons. Sometimes it’s anxiety and depression, sometimes it’s substance abuse,” Bell told DeGeneres, praising her husband for being able to ask for help and be honest about his struggles. “The thing I love most about Dax is A) that he was able to tell me and tell us and say we need a different plan.” Now, Bell said, the couple has a new plan to help Shepard from another similar incident with taking painkillers, which he was prescribed after a series of injuries from playing extreme sports. “If he has to take medication, for any reason, I have to administer it,” she continued. “But he was like, ‘So, we need a stronger plan. I was faltering and I have to do some sort of emotional work to figure out why I wanted to use again.’”

The Good Place star added she has no doubt her husband will be able to grow from this experience. “One of the main reasons I love him is he’s also addicted to growth. He’s addicted to evolving. And he was like, I don’t want to risk this family and I did, so let’s put new things in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said. “We’re going back to therapy. I love that he’s addicted to growth and I will continue to stand by him because he’s very, very worth it.”

Shepard revealed last month on his Armchair Expert podcast he was on day seven of his sobriety after he began to take prescription pain medication for his injuries, but began to slowly up the dosage and lie about how much he was taking. “I’m lying to other people and I know I have to quit,” he said. “But my tolerance is going up so quickly, that I’m now in a situation where I’m taking, you know, eight 30s a day, and I know that’s an amount that’s going to result in a pretty bad withdrawal. And I start getting really scared, and I’m starting to feel really lonely. And I just have this enormous secret.”