Ellen DeGeneres

Dax Shepard Says He Didn't Want to Share His Relapse Publicly: Here's Why He Decided to

The actor told Ellen DeGeneres that he cherishes being able to help people who are on their own sobriety journeys

Ellen DeGeneres
Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

Dax Shepard is opening up about why he decided to go public with his relapse following 16 years of sobriety.

During a virtual visit Tuesday to “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” the actor and “Armchair Expert” podcast host said he didn’t want to speak out about it but felt he needed to be honest.

“I did not want to at all,” he told DeGeneres. “I had all kinds of bizarre fears, like I have sponsors on my show. Was that something that could cost me money financially?

But the No. 1 thing I was afraid to lose was, I get so much esteem out of being someone who’s vocally sober, and I have people who write me on month one or on week two, and I love that. That’s my favorite thing about being in public, and so I was just terrified I would lose that. I really cherish that.”

Shepard, who’s been married to actor Kristen Bell for seven years, said he may be a Hollywood star, but people need to know he’s just like anyone else.

“I have a good friend that said, ‘You know, if your real goal is to help people, it’s not very helpful that you're 16 years sober and married to Kristen Bell,’” he said with a laugh. “That doesn’t help a ton of people. In fact, it probably makes their life worse. So the fact that you just fell, that’s the actual value. That’s the thing you could do that’s helpful.’ And so when it was framed that way to me, it got a lot easier.”

Shepard, 46, and Bell, 40, share two daughters, Lincoln, 7, and Delta, 6. He told DeGeneres they have been doing well during the quarantine, even if they are causing trouble in the house.

“My kids are fantastic. They are so much fun. I know there’s been so much heartache and loss of unemployment, all this, for so many people, but for us, I’ve just gotten to see them so much, which I’ve been so grateful for. Which is not to say they’re not terrible, as well,” he said, drawing laughter.

“They’re ferrets, they steal everything I have and have been doing so for seven and a half years. So I can’t have a pair of tweezers. I can’t have nail clippers. They will get stolen within 30 minutes and then they go somewhere I don’t know,” he said. “So I recently invested in a safe, so I put these items in a safe and when it arrived Kristen thought it was a joke.”

The former “Parenthood” star said he’s been hiding some toiletries in that safe, including scissors he keeps losing that “are like $100 a pop” — but someone in his house has figured out how to get a hold of his goodies.

“I put the key up high above the mirror so no one could reach it because I’m the only one above 5 feet in the house and then, lo and behold, a chair pulled up,” he said. “Went to get the key. It’s not there. Open the drawer, The safe’s open. Scissors are gone. So now I’m going to get a combination safe for the key. I got it figured out.”

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