The actor said that Bell is “so hot” that she doesn’t “even need the validation of the hot guy.”

Dax Shepard once called out* Bless This Mess* costar Lake Bell for dating ‘ugly guys’: ‘She kind of knows’

The actor said that Bell is "so hot" that she doesn't "even need the validation of the hot guy."

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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June 29, 2026 4:51 p.m. ET

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Dax Shepard and Lake Bell. Credit:

Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic

- Dax Shepard said he once called out Lake Bell for dating "ugly guys."

- The actor said that Bell was "so hot" that she didn't "even need the validation" of dating a "hot guy."

- Bell was previously married to artist Scott Campbell, and has dated Chris Rock and Colin Farrell in the past.

Dax Shepard is criticizing the looks of his friend Lake Bell’s romantic partners.

The 51-year-old actor revealed that he once called out his *Bless This Mess* costar for dating individuals he deemed to be “ugly guys” during a recent episode of his *Armchair Expert* podcast.

“I was inclined to think you might be like Lake Bell, who I worked with on a show forever and we’re friends,” Shepard told the episode’s guest Olivia Wilde. “And what I realized is that Lake is so hot her whole life that she liked to date ugly guys. Like, you *know* you're so hot.”

Dax Shepard and Lake Bell on 'Bless This Mess'.

Rick Rowell/ABC via Getty

His cohost, Monica Padman, quickly jumped in to set the record straight. “She did not say it like that, let’s be very clear,” she said, raising a hand in the air as Wilde laughed.

But Shepard wasn’t done putting Bell or her suitors on blast quite yet. “No, I called her out on it,” he continued. “I’m like, ‘You know it's cool that you'll date ugly guys.’ And she's like, ‘Ehh.’ She kind of knows. And I'm like, 'That's how you know you're so hot that you don't even need the validation of the hot guy.'”

Turning the question to Wilde, he asked, “Would you date the hot guy or the ugly guys?”

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The *Invite* director took the question in stride. “Oh, it's been a real range. A little smorgasbord. Really hard to figure out the common denominator,” Wilde said, noting that she always “felt like such an outsider” because she was raised in Ireland and the United States.

“Ireland, obviously, super weird outsider. American kid showing up in the summers, weirdo, outsider,” she explained. “Then back in the States, I felt like an outsider because I just felt like we were different. Family was different. Coming back and forth. Different.”

Wilde explained that she continued to feel different as time went on, from her boarding school years to moving to Los Angeles. “I never had the thing of like, ‘I’m so attractive, that I’ll…’” she began. Shepard proceeded to finish her sentence: “…I’ll date a three because it looks punk rock.”

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Padman once again interjected to note that was not the reason that Bell — who has been previously linked to Chris Rock, Colin Farrell, and* Game of Thrones* co-creator David Benioff — dated anyone. “She did it because their personalities were good,” she said. “And so, yeah, she's not just going to date someone hot just so that she feels hotter, because she doesn't need to feel hotter.”

“We'll call her in the fact check,” Shepard responded, referencing a portion at the end of each episode where they answer any lingering questions and offer clarifications as needed. The cohosts did not end up calling Bell for comment.

Still, Wilde understood what Padman was trying to say, noting that Bell “wasn’t trying to compensate for something” by dating someone attractive.

“She was not susceptible to a higher status person validating her,” Shepard said of Bell. “Which is a real unique ride.”

When Padman suggested that it led Bell to date “people she really liked,” Shepard quipped back, "Yeah, who often you're like, ‘Wow, that's cool she's with that dude.’ I just call it like it is.”

Looking toward the camera, a laughing Padman added, “Don't look into her history. That's so mean.”

In addition to dating stars like Farrell and Rock, Bell was previously married to artist Scott Campbell from 2013 until 2020. The pair, who finalized their divorce in 2021, share daughter Nova and son Ozgood together.

Listen to Shepard discuss Bell’s relationship history in the clip above.

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