‘Ellen’: Ashton Kutcher Dishes on ‘The Ranch’ Bromance With Dax Shepard

Ashton Kutcher credits Ellen DeGeneres for restarting his bromance with Dax Shepard.

In his appearance on Tuesday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Ranch star remembered how the daytime talk show host played matchmaker for the two friends.

Kutcher met Shepard years ago when they co-starred on Punk’d, then reunited briefly when their wives Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell co-starred on the 2016 comedy Bad Moms, but there was one more hangout that sealed their friendship.

“You know what’s unbelievable is Kristen and Mila were shooting ‘Bad Moms’ together,” Kutcher said in the appearance. “So we kind of ran into each other when they were shooting that movie together, because we both happened to be in Atlanta where they were shooting.”

“And then we came here to do this Mother’s Day – they were on for a Mother’s Day special,” he added. “And Dax and I came and like gave them flowers…It was funny because it kind of like re-kickstarted our friendship because we’d done Punk’d together years and years and years ago… and after we hung out on the show, we’re like ‘God I really like hanging out with [you].’”

The Two and a Half Men alum then recalled how after making an appearance for the Ellen Valentine’s Day special, he and Shepard started hanging out again.

Kutcher then did a guest spot on Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, and Kutcher later invited Shepard to join the cast of the beloved Netflix series The Ranch following Danny Masterson’s firing.

“Now we hang out everyday,” Kutcher said, with Ellen adding, “So it’s all because of me.”

“You kind of rekindled the thing that was like super special,” Kutcher added.

Shepard joined the cast of the Netflix series on the sixth episode of The Ranch Part 6. His character, Luke Matthews, was revealed to have a secret family connection to the Bennett family.

The actor’s tenure on the Netflix series may not be for too long, however, as he is committed to be a series regular on new ABC comedy series Bless This Mess, set to premiere in midseason 2019 on ABC.

Fans will have to wait to find out how the new show will affect the amount of Part 7 episodes Shepard will reprise his role in, though he is only expected to return in a recurring capacity for the upcoming fourth season of The Ranch.

The first three seasons of The Ranch (each divided in two parts) are available to stream on Netflix. Part 7 will likely premiere in mid 2019.