Welcome to #RelationshipGoals, where we’re giving the stage to the power couples we admire. From admirable long-term relationships to inspirational newlyweds, these are the couples we love and hope to take cues from in our own relationships.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard may be internet darlings and icons on many a relationship vision board now, but when they first met, neither saw marriage or kids in the other. So how did Veronica Mars and Punk'd bad boy Dax turn into one Instagram's most cooed about couples?
Why Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are a true power couple
Just like when Sarah Michelle Geller and Freddie Prince Jr. or Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively first met, when Bell and Shepard first crossed paths, nothing special happened. It wasn't love at first sight for either of them. In fact, Shepard distrusted his future wife. The happy and warm glow Bell is most famous for made Shepard jumpy. "Something stinks here; they're in a cult," his thoughts were, Shepard told Good Housekeeping.
But they're paths crossed again that year and two years later they became engaged. But it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. There where plenty of dark days, even early in their relationship. But Bell and Shepard, despite what tabloids like to claim, have never given up on each other.
This person has the thing I want, and I have to figure out how we can exist peacefully. Dax Shepard
These were Shepard's thoughts from early on, the Parenthood star told the same source. So the couple started seeing a therapist, a habit the two wholeheartedly believe in. After all, it keeps them communicating. It keeps them growing. It keeps them happily in love.
All the times Bell and Shepard inspired us with their love
- When they made kind the new sexy
"Nothing is sexier than being a good human," Bell told People. While the couple is open about how attracted they are to each other, for Bell nothing is more irresistible about her husband than the kindness he spreads around.
Whether it's helping others, being a good father or inspiring those around him to become their best selves. And that includes the Veronica Mars star. "At first I was attracted to the way he made me feel, and now I'm attracted to the things I learn from him," she told the same source.
2. When they teach their kids about adult issues
Whether it's involving their kids into their charity work, or using stories to teach them about communication and boundaries, the The Good Place co-stars believe in teaching their children about the important things in life. Even if it might be difficult or uncomfortable or scary.
Like teaching them about privilege, as the About A Boy star told Entertainment Tonight. His daughters may be only 3 and 5, but Shepard and his wife make sure the girls know that "Hey, we have a bunch, and there's a bunch of people who don't have a bunch."
3. When they shared their realistic approach to romance
The two may famously disagree on a lot, but they do agree on at least one thing: they don't believe in "The One." They don't believe in the concept of soulmate, where two people fit together completely from the moment they meet.
"We don’t believe in the fairytale. We don’t believe that you can meet someone and you have perfectly matching personalities," Shepard told Us Magazine. Both believe their differences of opinion and personality helped them grow and become better, and both believe that couples need to want to be together to stay together.
Hard work is their biggest relationship takeaway
It might not be sexy, and it might not be an instant recipe for happiness, but for Bell and Shepard hard work is the center of a successful relationship. Their first months together were toxic according to both and it was a long road to develop the skills needed for a healthy and happy relationship.
As the Frozen star told Entertainment Tonight, "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."
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