Kristen Bell explains why she lets her children drink non-alcoholic beer

Kristen Bell has spoken out about her and husband Dax Shepard’s decision to allow their two children to drink non-alcoholic beer.

The Good Place star, 43, admitted that it is awkward at times when her oldest daughter Lincoln asks for the beverage in restaurants.

In an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Bell said that Shepard, who is a recovering alcoholic, enjoys non-alcoholic beer and their children have a close connection with it.

She told host Kelly Clarkson: “He’s a recovering addict, but he likes non-alcoholic beer, so he’d pop one open, he’d have [Lincoln] on his chest, and we’d walk and look at the sunset.

“As a baby, she was pawing at it, and sometimes she’d suck the rim of it. So, I think it feels to her like something special, something daddy, something family.”

Recalling times when the 10-year-old would ask for the drink when out in public, Bell said: “We’ve been at restaurants where she’s said, ‘Do you have any non-alcoholic beer?’ and I’m like, ‘Maybe we just keep that for home time.’

“But then I’m also sort of like, ‘You can judge me if you want, I’m not doing anything wrong. Like, that’s your problem.’”

In 2020, Bell revealed that she once walked in on her daughters drinking non-alcoholic beer during a Zoom school lesson.

Speaking on the Say Yes! With Carla Hall podcast, the Frozen star acknowledged that letting her children enjoy the drink may gain her “a lot of flack”, but added: “You’re welcome to tell me I’m a terrible parent. I don’t care. I’m a great parent, I think. I’m learning every day.”

She recalled feeling worried about what other parents and teachers would think of her when they saw Lincoln and Delta, eight, sipping on popular non-alcoholic beer brand O’Doul’s.

However, she reminded herself that she doesn’t care about the opinions of others and said: “And then I remind myself, ‘You don’t care, Kristen. They can pretend like you’re doing something wrong.’ I would argue that I’m not, because it’s non-alcoholic.

“If anything, it opens up the discussion for why Daddy has to drink non-alcoholic beer, because some people lose their privileges with drinking. Drinking’s not always safe.”

Shepard has spoken openly about his struggle with drug and alcohol addiction, as well as his journey to sobriety.

The Parenthood star revealed in September 2020 that he relapsed after 16 years of sobriety. He began using painkillers after a motorcycle accident and said he began purchasing his own and lying to people around him, which prompted him to seek help.

The following year, he reflected on how he told his daughters about “the whole thing” during an appearance on the In Fact with Chelsea Clinton podcast.

“They knew when I relapsed,” he said. “We explained, ‘Well, Daddy was on these pills for his surgery and then Daddy was a bad boy and he started getting his own pills.’ Yeah, we tell them the whole thing.”

He added that the children know that he goes to an “AA meeting every Tuesday and Thursday”.