Inside Kristen Bell and Dax Shepards Troubled Marriage

and Dax Shepard have perhaps one of the most unconventional marriages in Hollywood.

After all, for a couple who have been together since 2007, neither Bell, 45, nor Shepard, 51, have been a stranger to controversy.

Most recently, Shepard found himself getting name-dropped in  published by The Cut that critiqued women who 'normalize' their husband's 'bad behavior'.

Shepard has been under particular fire of late. In January, singer  appeared as a guest on his Armchair Expert podcast and rather awkwardly that Bell was 'definitely the better half' in the actor couple's marriage.

The same month, Shepard was also condemned asby fans after he admitted to being 'newly obsessed' with singer Sabrina Carpenter - who at 26-years-old is young enough to be his daughter.

For her part, Bell seems unbothered. After hosting Sunday night's SAG Actor Awards in , she took to Instagram to heap praise on Shepard - the father of her two daughters - thanking him for his support, writing: 'Not for one moment do think I could do this job on my own.'

But Bell is not a lone voice when it comes to defending her husband.

Indeed, in a rather fascinating development, one member of the couple's inner circle has emerged as a fierce ally.

Step forward Monica Padman, the 38-year-old co-host of Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast who is understood to be among the couple's closet confidantes. 

But the relationship hasn't always been that of professional equals.

In 2011, after moving to LA to try and make it as an actress, Padman first worked as a nanny for the couple, who welcomed their children in 2013 and 2014.

But 12 or so years that have followed, Padman has evolved from babysitter to podcast co-producer and undoubted best friend. 

She has moved just down the street from Bell and Shepard's family home in the trendy LA neighborhood of Los Feliz, and has even joked that they are all in a.

Now, however, while a source tells the Daily Mail that Padman has made herself 'invaluable' to the couple, some friends are said to be worried that their co-dependent relationship is not 'healthy' for Padman, who is herself single and unmarried.

'Monica is not only heavily involved in Dax's podcast, but also sometimes like the third wheel in his marriage to Kristen,' an insider said.

'She's made herself invaluable to them, and the kids love her.'

Padman, originally from Georgia, moved to LA in 2011 to pursue a career in acting. To support herself, she worked the front desk at SoulCycle and ultimately took the job babysitting for Bell and Shepard's two girls – daughters Lincoln, 12, and Delta, 10.

She eventually became their full-time nanny. And them, by the time their daughters enrolled in school, she transitioned to being Bell's personal assistant and also served as her speech writer. 

'I would come every morning. And it was really all hands on deck, whoever was there,' Padman said in a 2024 interview.

'It was a village mentality, which was nice because it didn't feel stressful. It wasn't like, "You have to do this and then this." It was very loose.

'I would be there all day. And at night, sometimes I would go home, but sometimes I wouldn't… I just became a part of that family. They let me be a part of that family. It was really special.'

The dynamic changed when Shepard proposed launching a podcast. Padman offered to assist him with the beginning stages of getting the project off the ground - but he offered one better: the chance to co-host with him.

The first episode aired in 2018 with Bell as their first guest. Since then, the podcast has gained an estimated monthly audience of 20 million listeners. 

And, in 2024, Armchair Expert signed an exclusive distribution deal with Wondery worth an estimated $80 million.

While Padman has become Shepard's business partner and collaborator, her friendship with Bell is more intimate and personal, our source said.

'Monica is closer to Dax than she is to Kristen on a professional level. However, on a personal level she and Kristen share girl talk. They seem to be much of her life right now,' the source said.

But for some of Padman's friends, that is a problem. 

'[Her friends] don't think the relationship between the three of them is a healthy one' because they believe she is "too involved" in the couple's life,' the source said.

In 2021, Armchair Expert co-hosts Shepard and Padmna appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, with Shepard joking that Padman was part of a . 

When asked by Kimmel if she was 'the third wheel in Dax and Kristen's tricycle of love,' Padman joked, 'Well, we were in a three-way marriage.'

As Kimmel pressed to find out whether there was anything sexual in their arrangement, Shepard bantered back: 'Unfortunately not. It's all the responsibilities of two wives without the sex!'

Despite being this so-called trusted 'third wheel' in Bell and Shepard's marriage, our source explained that Padman tries to stay neutral whenever the couple bicker, as they are known to do. 

'She tries to stay out of their infamous fights but that's not as easy as it seems,' the insider said. 

'They are constantly in arguments and are constantly at each other's throats, but they wouldn't have it any other way.

'They both have learned through therapy they are the only ones that will deal with each other's drivel and disconnect. Always being at odds seems to be what makes them tick and is their lifeblood.'

In that 2018 debut episode of Shepard's podcast with Bell as special guest, Shepard admitted he and his wife were 'bickering' and 'being impatient with each other' throughout the interview.

At one point, Shepard did a petty impression of Bell nagging at him, to which the actress responded by calling him 'annoying' and noting that he was 'talking over' her.

Last October, Bell  when she shared a social media post marking their anniversary.

'Happy 12th wedding anniversary to the man who once said to me: "I would never kill you. A lot of men have killed their wives at a certain point. Even though I'm heavily incentivized to kill you, I never would,"' Bell wrote.

Many fans were quick to point out that Bell's choice to make such a 'joke' during Domestic Violence Awareness Month was in particularly poor taste.

Her message was blasted as 'tone deaf' and 'insensitive' in the comments section, while others simply urged Bell to divorce Shepard.

Despite their public spats, our source maintains that Bell and Shepard have learned how to make their relationship last.

'As much disagreement happens in their relationship, it also leads to various moments of extreme bliss,' the insider said.

'They know how to test each other. They are always trying to prove something to each other, or one-up each other. When they aren't at each other's throats, they will have their moments of deep love for each other. Outside looking in, it doesn't seem a healthy way to go through a relationship, but they have currently figured out a way to make it work.'

While Padman apparently tries to stay out of Bell and Shepard's fights, that can be easier said than done – especially when Padman lives just a three-minute walk from Bell and Shepard's home. 

In December 2019, Padman purchased her four-bedroom, three-bathroom Spanish style home in the gated LA community of Laughlin Park for $2.6m.

She bought the house just two years after Bell and Shepard purchased their 4,050-square-foot house in 2017 for $4.3m on the same street.

Our insider said: 'Monica doesn't like to be in the middle of their feuds but sometimes manages to get drawn in. She tries not to take sides.

'Kristen has made it perfectly clear to Monica that she and Dax need their alone time and she gets it.'

Of course, her relationship with Bell and Shepard would likely lead anyone to wonder how their dynamic may impact Padman's other friendships. 

In fact, the podcast co-host herself has wondered aloud how a romantic partner would fit into their so-called 'three-way marriage.'

In 2024, Padman admitted she was worried that being so open about her personal life on the podcast with Shephard, who she called her 'best friend,' could impact her dating life.

'I had this weird hang-up, though. I was like, "What about when I meet my husband? Is it unfair to him that everyone else gets to know these intimate parts? Like, shouldn't some of it be saved for him?"' she said.

'I had this bizarre idea about that. And Dax said, "There will always be things between you and your husband that don't get shared. The details of life." And so I just fully jumped in.'

She also described the difficulties of navigating her friendship with Shepard, and how they've learned to set boundaries between their professional and personal relationship.

'We have big fights, and we have not-great moments. But we've gotten better about understanding each other's needs, especially in conflict,' Padman said.

'It's like any relationship. You understand how to communicate with that person in conflict. We've gotten better about that, and at boundaries in general.'

Padman, 38, has also been open about her egg freezing journey, talking  on the Conversations with Cam podcast in February about how her brother having a baby has made her think more about her own timeline.

'It did spark a new sense of like, "Huh, am I really not going to have that?"' she told host Cameron Rogers.

'Maybe the answer is yes, and that's fine. I don't know but I'm thinking about it a lot.'

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Padman, Bell and Shepard for comment.