Dax Shepard Tells Dr. Phil He Thinks He Had ‘A Sex Addiction At Some Point In My Life’

Prior to becoming Kristen Bell‘s better half, Dax Shepard had a sex addiction. Or so he thinks. The Parenthood alum, 44, opened up on Dr. Phil‘s new podcast on “Phil in the Blanks,” on Tuesday, Jan. 15, to talk about his battle.

“I’d say I’ve had what could maybe be called a sex addiction at some point in my life. Not one that I had to seek treatment for but… there are worse addictions,” the father of two told Dr. Phil McGraw, 68, who also has his own TV show. “But up ’til then, I would have just said, ‘Oh, I have sex with a lot of people. I like to do it. It’s healthy. Who cares? I’m not getting diseases. I’m single. Whatever.'”

Dax then recalled the moment where he thought he may have a problem. “I had a girlfriend. She was away. We got in a fight over the phone. I hung up the phone. I was driving in the car, and I immediately got horny,” he said. “Now, that is a biochemical feeling. I’m getting a serotonin dump. Whatever I’m getting, that’s a physiological thing — horniness. So I’m just feeling authentically horny. And I think, ‘Hmm, I’m gonna text this girl I know,’ and I text that girl and there was a delay.”

That delay acted as a “moment of clarity” for the star. “I was like, ‘That’s suspicious. I just felt disempowered by my girlfriend and immediately I got horny. Could my brain be, like, taking care of me?'” he said. “You can feel powerful and attractive and all of these things, but that biochemical thing that happened, the physiological thing, how would I not interpret that as real horniness? It was real horniness. It was just that my brain made me horny so I didn’t have to feel that other thing. That’s so complex.”

Now, Dax is happily married to Kristen, and they share two daughters Lincoln, 5, and Delta, 4.