Dax Shepard Refused Marriage for Years Until One Christmas Eve Changed Everything

Dax Shepard spent years telling Kristen Bell he didn’t believe in marriage. On his Armchair Expert podcast, the couple recalled his reasoning: a courthouse document shouldn’t dictate how he treats someone, and both of them grew up with broken homes. Bell, the self-described traditional one, accepted it because he already treated her like a wife.

Then came a Christmas Eve family gathering that changed the whole plan. Bell got emotional expressing gratitude for the family they were building, and Dax pulled a ring from his jacket pocket and proposed on the spot, scrapping the restaurant surprise he had planned. Bell says she sobbed because she never expected it. The couple, who started dating in 2007, married at the Beverly Hills courthouse in 2013, seven months after daughter Lincoln was born, and welcomed Delta in 2014.

Bell has also been candid recently about crying weekly over the challenges of marriage and parenting, which makes this Hollywood love story feel refreshingly human. Would a spontaneous proposal win you over, or do you need the plan? Tell us in the comments.