Joel Mchale Just Celebrated 30 Years of Marriage by Thanking His Wife for the “Brash Decision” to Say Yes to Him

Thirty years ago, Sarah Williams said yes to Joel McHale. He’s still saying thank you. The couple hit their 30th wedding anniversary this week, and Joel marked it with a message that was equal parts joke and love letter.

Sarah Williams and Joel McHale step out together at the Hammer Museum’s annual Gala in the Garden in Los Angeles on October 14, 2018. Photo by Emma McIntyre / Getty Images.

Joel and Sarah McHale have been together since 1993, three years before they married in July 1996, and they just hit the 30-year mark.

The couple celebrated their anniversary on July 20 with Instagram tributes, pairing recent photos with black-and-white snapshots from their wedding day. Joel, 54, posted a smiling selfie of the two of them in Shibuya, Japan, next to a throwback wedding shot.

“And just like that…. 30 YEARS ago today THEEE Sarah Williams made the brash decision to accept my offer of marriage. Thank you baby for agreeing,” he wrote. “I love you and I love you and I love you.”

Joel McHale and Ken Jeong together at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills during the NBC Fall TV Preview Party in September 2009. Photo by Angela Weiss / Getty Images.

Sarah answered with a tribute of her own, tracing the story back to where it started. “30 years married @joelmchale!” she wrote. “Taking it back to #sylvangroveuw where my brother insisted you talk to me. What a ride it’s been! Can’t wait for the next 30! Love you, love you, love you.”

At the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Governors Ball in Los Angeles on August 29, 2010, a younger Joel McHale poses with Sarah Williams, his arm around her. Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images.

The couple share two sons, Eddie, 21, and Isaac, 18.

Joel offered his take on what’s kept things strong during an April appearance on “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” where he admitted the number is hard to process.

Sarah Williams and Joel McHale pose together at the Hammer Museum’s new expansion celebration in Los Angeles on March 25, 2023. Photo by Stefanie Keenan / Getty Images.

“When I say 30 years, I’m like, ‘That’s, like, a person. That’s a person who’s an adult and has a job and is losing their hair,'” he said. His answer for the longevity might surprise some couples: Sarah occasionally takes 10-day vacations with friends because she needs “a real break,” and he says the time apart has been healthy for them.

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