Dax Shepard can’t get over his connection to Alex Cooper’s husband, Matt Kaplan.
“You guys have a very, very good working relationship,” Shepard, 50, said to Cooper, 30, on the Wondery+ early access of his “Armchair Expert” podcast, which officially drops on Monday, June 16.
Shepard then asked cohost Monica Padman if she had seen Cooper’s husband before.
“Dax is in love with him,” Cooper explained of Shepard’s interest in Kaplan, 41.
Shepard, for his part, continued to gush over Kaplan and recalled the time they met at a Spotify event.
“He’s outrageously gorgeous. The second I saw him at the airport, I immediately was like, ‘Oh my God you’re so f***ing gorgeous.’ And I said to [Alex], ‘Good job, this guy’s f***ing gorgeous.’ I think later I found out from him [that] he thought I was making fun of him,” he explained. “But here’s what’s crazy, Monica. It was deeper than just that.”
Shepard added that after getting to know Cooper and Kaplan, he decided to learn everything he could about the pair.
“As I’ve become friendly with them on this trip, I start researching you both in my hotel room,” he shared. ”And guess what I discovered.”
Cooper theorized that maybe they “both dated the same person” but Shepard explained it was “deeper than that.” The Parenthood alum confessed that Kaplan looked familiar to him and it finally came together.
“I then went, ‘Oh yes, yes, yes. I’ve totally seen him before.’ Because the first time I ever saw [Ashley Olsen] in real life, she was with him, dating,” he said. “Look at this f***ing guy. This guy has got it made. … I became more obsessed with him that day than her. Then I’m putting this all together and I’m like, ‘Oh yes, I’ve always been obsessed with this guy.’”
Before tying the knot with Cooper, Kaplan dated Olsen, 38, from 2001 to 2004 while they attended Columbia University. Shepard and Olsen went on to date in 2006, the same year she and sister Mary-Kate Olsen launched their fashion brand, The Row.
Cooper joked that Shepard and Kaplan’s “love affair is adorable.” However, after his realization, Shepard wondered how he should come clean to Kaplan about his findings. The “Call Her Daddy” host explained that her husband has a quiet demeanor initially — but will come out of his shell after a while.
“He’s such an interesting guy. He’s so kind of shy and reserved at first, then once you get to know him, he gets more open,” Cooper reflected. “But I remember at first, he was literally like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what to say to that.’ And I’m like, ‘Matt, he thinks you’re hot! Take the compliment!’”
Cooper and Kaplan met in 2020 and got engaged three years later. The couple walked down the aisle in April 2024.
