They have now been together 16 years, but actor and comedian Dax Shepard has revealed he initially doubted his relationship with his now wife Kristen Bell as there were no “fireworks” to begin with.

Shepard and Bell first met at a mutual friend’s party in 2007, went public with their relationship in 2008 and married at a Beverly Hills courthouse in 2013. They share two daughters, who were born in 2013 and 2014, and a co-founded baby product company called Hello Bello.

It all sounds like a fairytale, but according to Shepard, it was a slow-burn relationship to begin with. On an episode of his podcast, Shepard told actress Halle Berry that his first reaction to Bell lacked the intensity that marked the beginning of his previous relationships and interactions with women.

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell attend the Education Through Music Los Angeles 18th Annual Benefit Gala at Skirball Cultural Center on December 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Shepard has opened up about his initial… More Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
After listening to Berry describe the beginning of some of her own relationships, Shepard shared “this borders on it could feel insulting.” “My previous ones [relationships], I can name all but three that I look across me and I’m like ‘holy f*** look at her, shot out of a cannon’ and then that starts so intensely and then the chemicals wear off and then you deal with real life,” said Shepard.

However, Shepard says it was all different with Bell as there was no “canon moment” with her. He explains: “I was like ‘huh this is interesting, I’m not sure this is for me but boy this personality is infectious, she sure is funny.’ And then it was a reversal of all the patterns, it was not fireworks at the top and it’s only gotten better.”

Shepard also shared some insight into the type of person he historically, and in Bell, chooses to be with.

“I was always and continue to be with some version of my mom. All of them have to be real go getters, they have to be industrious, bosses—mini bosses if possible—because I have to try to get you to choose me over this great ambition you have,” he said.

Newsweek has emailed Shepard’s representatives for further comment.

Despite the unconventional start, Bell and Shepard are now one of the most beloved couples in Hollywood. However, that is not to say that they don’t regularly put work into their relationship—they do and are refreshingly open about it.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2015, Bell—who is currently starring in Nobody Wants This on Netflix—admitted: “Our relationship wasn’t perfect. We had a couple years of fighting and of growing pains and hating each other, then loving each other and going to couples therapy and we worked it out. We earned each other.”

Bell later followed this up on an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she admitted she and Shepard went back to couples therapy at the beginning of the pandemic after being at “each other’s throats” to restock their relationship “toolbox.”

“The reality is, if you’re living with one human being—I don’t care if it’s your partner or your husband or your wife or whoever it is, your roommate—you need to brush up on your toolbox, because you will find that person annoying. Relationships take work,” she said.