"I thought it was my fault." Dax Shepard reveals he was molested as a child.

Dax Shepard, former star of beloved family drama Parenthood, has said he was molested as a child.

The news of his sexual assault was revealed during an interview on American radio show The Jason Ellis Show on Sirius XM.

“Yes I was molested,” Shepard said. The 41-year -old recalled he was seven at the time of the incident and the perpetrator was an 18-year-old ‘dude from my neighbourhood’.

I don’t know how to use instagram but I do like this picture.

A photo posted by kristen bell (@kristenanniebell) on Feb 16, 2016 at 9:40pm PST

Speaking publicly about his trauma for the first time, Shepard said,  “It took me 12 years to tell anyone. And then all that time, I was like, a) ‘It’s my fault,’ as generic as that is, I’m like, ‘it’s my fault. And I’m gay, I must have manifested this because I’m secretly gay.’ I had all these insane thoughts for 11 years or 12 years.”

Shepard, the husband of Veronica Mars actress Kristen Bell, and father to their two daughters Lincoln, 3, and Delta, 1, says even though the abuse was ‘minimal’ it ‘probably’ contributed to his future substance abuse issues.

Watch Dax talk to Ellen Degeneres about being a father below. Post continues after video…

The Without a Paddle star has been open about his substance abuse problems in the past, previously attributing them to ‘heavy partying’. It was only when his mother, a court-appointed advocate for foster children, told him how child abuse and substance abuse go hand in hand he made the connection.

“If you’ve been molested, you only have a 20 percent chance of not being an addict,” Shepard, who has been sober since 2004 said. “And I was like, ‘Hm, interesting,’ because in my mind I just like to have a f—ing great time. But when you hear a statistic like that, I’m like, ‘Oh no, I was going to be an addict, period.’ ”

You can listen to the full interview below.

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