Dax Shepard made a surprising revelation on his latest Armchair Expert podcast. He told his co-host, or “soulmate,” as he refers to her, Monica Padman, that he dated Ashley Olsen about 15 years ago. The discussion began when they were talking about The Row because Monica is apparently obsessed with the brand. It soon became clear, however, that they brought the label up specifically so Dax could mention that he’d dated Ashley. According to Dax, who said he’d never watched Full House, he saw Ashley at a party and, “was kind of thunderstruck with her beauty.” He also said he was dating her about the time that she was getting The Row up and running and was very impressed with Ashley as a business woman.
Who knew that Dax Shepard and Ashley Olsen used to date? The Parenthood actor made the revelation about his private life on Monday’s Armchair Expert podcast.
“So, I dated Ashley Olsen and she’s just the most wonderful person. She’s fantastic,” he exclaimed.
Shepard brought up the secret romance when his co-host, Monica Padman, was talking about how much she loves Mary-Kate and Ashley’s clothing line The Row. Shepard said he dated Olsen around the time she and her sister were getting it off the ground.
“When we were dating, it was when she was kind of putting all her energy and focus into launching that in a big way. So, I was able to see her meet with design teams and, like, run her s*** and she handled her [business], and it’s very impressive,” Shepard added.
Shepard, 47, and Olsen, 35, dated “about” 15 years ago with the podcast host admitting they seem like an odd pairing.
“They’re sarcastic,” he said of the Olsen twins. “I would imagine on the surface that’s a pretty weird pairing but [Ashley’s] super funny, and sarcastic, and intelligent.”
Although Shepard called his ex a “major f***ing” boss, he never watched Full House.
“I luckily never saw that show because I probably would have not been able to be attracted to Ashley if I knew her as a baby,” he quipped. “I just saw her at a party and was kind of thunderstruck with her beauty.”
I actually listened to the podcast for context on these comments. Dax is very complimentary, as I suggested above. He admitted they seem like an odd pairing, but then listed reasons why they meshed, such as the sarcasm and that she loves board games, etc. They also bonded over cars. I agree that I would never have paired these two when I read the headlines but listening to Dax’s comments about what they had in common plus the genuine admiration with which he spoke of her convinced me they were well-matched. And as a person who is slightly obsessed with the Olsen twins, I loved hearing how amazing Ashley is.
What drove me to listen to the podcast, though, was Dax’s intent. Normally, I would say this was part of a person’s life, they have every reason to bring it up. But the Olsen twins are notoriously private. And Dax and his wife, Kristen Bell, make a habit of sharing information solely for the purpose of self-promotion. So I wanted to know how ‘naturally’ this topic came up in the conversation. I know he only said nice things but I can’t help but feel like it was opportunistic, which is exactly what Ashley wouldn’t want. At the end, Dax let it slip that they’d not had any contact since they’d dated. Ashley’s playing it smart, there. Imagine the stories he and Kristen would tell if Ashley hung out regularly with them.
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