A relationship expert with 25 years of experience has revealed why she thinks Kristen Bell said she 'wouldn't care' if her husband Dax Shepard cheated on her.
The Good Place actor, 45, tied the knot with Shepard, 50, in 2013, some time after Armchair Expert host had come out of a nine-year open relationship.
Despite getting engaged in 2010, the couple wanted to wait until same-sex marriage was legal in California, as a show of solidarity.
Yet Bell's recent comments about their relationship have received a fair bit of backlash online after she said she wouldn't be too bothered if Shepard had an affair.
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As reported by The Sun, the mum-of-two said: “Kind of who cares, to be honest? I also know we’re monkeys. We’re both attracted to other people. We’re married. We’re not dead. But I don’t know that everyone has the privilege of this much confidence in their relationship.”
Reason why Kristen Bell said she 'wouldn't care' if her husband cheated
Although Shepard hilariously shut down the 'swinger' rumours on The Drew Barrymore Show last year, Bell previously admitted to You Magazine in 2018 that monogamy is 'difficult because you're still attracted to other people'.
Dating expert Lorraine Adams told LADbible that there might be another reason why the Forgetting Sarah Marshall star is making her comments public.
The founder of Gorgeous Networks, which claims to have introduced the speed dating concept to the world in 2000, said: "It could be a way of protecting oneself because you are a little bit concerned that your whole world is going to be blown apart if either one of you is caught cheating.
"It is a good way of almost protecting yourself to say, ‘Oh, we’re on record as saying it’s fine, it’s not a problem with us’, even if it actually is a problem within the relationship. It’s a way of almost protecting yourself."
‘It's healthy until it isn’t’
Adams said that Bell's idea of cheating doesn't always mark the end of a relationship, but can lead to problems further down the line.
"It's healthy until it isn’t. If somebody does it without the other person’s knowledge or without an agreement in place… that’s when it becomes damaging," she explained.
"What could just be seen initially as a one-night fling that doesn’t really matter could later become a lot more serious and cause a lot more problems."
She believes that 'a lot of people agree to it reluctantly' and that, in her experience, 'one side thinks it’s a great idea and the other side doesn't'.
"But they don’t want to lose them, so they just go along with it and say, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’ But every couple is different," Adams said.
Why Covid and TikTok popularised open relationships
"I think open relationships are becoming more popular because people are talking about it more openly now. It’s not as taboo as it used to be. Social media and TV have made it seem more normal — you see celebrities and influencers talking about open relationships or polyamory, and it makes people curious," she said.
Adams noted that the added 'awareness of different relationship dynamics' sort of gives people 'permission to explore things that maybe they wouldn’t have even considered years ago'.
"I think the pandemic also played a part. People started questioning what makes them happy, what they want, what they need from a relationship. For some, that meant being more open or experimental," the CEO explained.
When people jump into it for the wrong reasons
The speed dating pioneer thinks 'a lot of people jump into it for the wrong reasons — they’re bored, or they’re trying to fix something that’s already broken'.
"For some, it’s about avoiding commitment. For others, it’s about wanting freedom without the risk of losing their partner. But if you’re doing it to save a relationship, it rarely works," Adams said.
"A lot of people think it’ll make things more exciting or solve problems, but usually it just exposes the cracks that were already there. So yes, it’s becoming more popular, but I don’t necessarily think it’s because it works better — it’s just more visible and more socially acceptable now."
LADbible Group has contacted representatives of Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard for comment.
Topics: Celebrity, Kristen Bell, Sex and Relationships
Anish Vij