Dax Shepard didn't "believe in the institution of marriage" before tying the knot with Kristen Bell.

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell

The 'Bless This Mess' star has been married to Kristen - with whom he has daughters Lincoln, seven, and Delta, five - since 2013, but has admitted he never thought he would enjoy being married, as he used to be "theoretically opposed to the notion".

He said: "That was the hardest part about getting married for me: I was like what leverage do you have left anymore? Another wrinkle was that I fundamentally did not believe in the institute of marriage. I had been with a girl for nine years before Kristen and we were going to have a baby for sure. I was very in favour of spending your life with somebody but I was just theoretically opposed to the notion of marriage."

Eventually, Dax gave in and agreed to marry Kristen to help her "feel safe", and now couldn't be happier with his decision.

He added during an appearance on the 'Good for You' podcast: "At a certain point, I was like she wants this really bad and this will make her feel safe."

Meanwhile, Kristen recently revealed she doesn't think she'd be married to Dax, 45, if they'd met five years earlier.

The 'Frozen 2' star said: "I think it's who you choose to make it work with. I don't think you could ever find your soulmate if you're not ready. I don't know if I think soulmates exist. We'd be a tabloid headline [if we married before]. We met at the time when we were both evolving into a place where it was 'Okay, what are the outcomes I want in my life?' ... I think you have to go through your own personal evolution to get there."

And Kristen, 39, has also previously said she felt "no sparks whatsoever" when she first met her spouse.

She said: "The producer of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Shauna Robertson, who's Judd Apatow's previous producing partner, had a birthday dinner - like, 10 people, maybe less, at a sushi restaurant. And I had just gotten out of a long-term relationship, like, two months prior. And in retrospect, I realise he had just gotten out of a long relationship. We were sitting at a table. The only thing I remember is that he talked so much. And then I didn't know who he was. I'm like, 'Is that one of the guys from 'Jackass' or something?' ... And then we left. There were no sparks whatsoever."

Kristen then met Dax a second time two weeks later, and began to see the potential for a romantic connection.

She recalled: "Two weeks later we both met at a hockey game ... we saw each other ... started to flirt," she says. "Then a day after that I get a text that says, 'Hi, my name is Dax. I violated your privacy and got your number from Shauna. How do you feel about that?' And I was like, 'Excuse me? You sound stimulating.' He's so bold and that was my kind of person. I was like, okay, starting it off with a really good joke that makes me feel, like, butterflies. I fell in love with him way before he fell in love with me."

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