Dax Shepard has always been candid about his struggles with addiction, and he doesn’t hold back when discussing the subject with his kids.
The 46-year-old actor revealed back in September that he had suffered a relapse after being sober for 16 years, and during a recent interview with Chelsea Clinton for her In Fact podcast, he explained how he handles questions from his daughters — eight-year-old Lincoln and six-year-old Delta — about his addiction.
Shepard attends AA meetings every Tuesday and Thursday, and, in answer to Lincoln’s question as to why he needed to go, Dax answered bluntly, “Because I’m an alcoholic, and if I don’t go there, then I’ll drink, and then I’ll be a terrible dad.”
When she asked if she could go with him, the Parenthood star said no, explaining that only alcoholics could attend.
“And she goes, ‘I’m gonna be an alcoholic,'” he recalled while laughing. “I said, ‘You might become one. The odds are not in your favor, but you’re not there yet.'”
Shepard doesn’t hide his relapse from the kids either, telling them, “Daddy was on these pills for his surgery, and then Daddy was a bad boy, and he started getting his own pills.'”
Adds Dax, he and his wife, actress Kristen Bell “tell them the whole thing.”
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