Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an American comedian, television personality and actor. Since 2004 he has been the host of The Soup, a weekly comedy series that airs on E!. McHale also stars as Jeff Winger in NBC's Community, which premiered in September 2009. McHale was born in Rome, Italy, the middle of three brothers, and is of Irish and Nordic descent. His mother, who is Canadian, grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. He grew up in the Seattle area, graduating from Mercer Island High School in 1991. He received a bachelor's degree in History from the University of Washington in 1995. While at the University of Washington, McHale belonged to the Theta Chi Fraternity "for three horrible months". He was recruited to be on the rowing team, but later walked onto the football team, playing tight end for two years. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Professional Actors Training Program at the University of Washington. McHale married Sarah Williams in 1996. They have two sons: Edward Roy (2005) and Isaac Hayden (2008). They own homes in Sammamish, Washington and the Hollywood Hills.