Kristen Bell has addressed concerns about her marriage to Dax Shepard after a fan suggested that it seems like the couple can’t stand each other.
On Wednesday, PopCulture shared an Instagram photo of Shepard along with a quote from the actor, in which he revealed that his wife was recently upset about the level of “female empowerment” depicted in a mural he’d had painted on his van.
The mural in question is a reference to a Chuck Norris movie, according to Shepard, and depicts the actor shirtless and his wife clutching his thigh.
"My wife is pretty adamant that's the one vehicle she doesn't want in our driveway," he told the outlet. "She wasn't thrilled with the level of 'female empowerment' that was depicted in that mural. Understandably."
In response to the Armchair Expert podcast host’s comments, one person questioned in the comments of the Instagram photo why all of the news regarding the couple’s relationship is negative.
“Every piece of news I see about them talks about how they just can’t f***ing stand each other, constantly fight, now this dude is apparently objectifying her as well,” they wrote. “Just what’s the point?”
The comment prompted a response from Bell, who took to the comments to defend her relationship, according to a screenshot shared by the Instagram account CommentsByCelebs.
“We adore each other, we just try to always be honest about how marriage or companionship in any form, is hard sometimes,” the Frozen star wrote. “You can’t always be in control, or right, and it’s important to us that we lead with the honesty of your ‘perfect match’ being a myth.
“You gotta work hard to love yourself, and love other humans. Xo.”
The concerns about the couple’s relationship comes after both Bell and Shepard have been transparent about the hard work they put into their marriage.
In 2017, the Parenthood actor told US Weekly that he and his wife don’t consider each other to be “the One” and that they undergo a lot of couples therapy to coexist.
“We are opposites and it has taken a tremendous amount of work and therapy for us to coexist,” he said at the time, adding that if you want a relationship to last, it is “labour intensive”.
As for why the couple continues to openly share details about their relationship, Shepard said last month that they do so because they don’t want people to think marriage is easy.
Appearing on Sunday Today with Willie Geist, he said: “We don't want anyone to think we met and it's been easy 'cause if that's someone's expectation of a relationship and certainly a marriage, it's a bad expectation to have.”
Bell’s recent response was met with support on Instagram, where fans applauded her for her and her husband’s transparency.
“I love them as a couple and I love that they don't try to act like the storybook couple,” one person wrote, while another said: “One of my favourite celebrity couples for this reason.”
