Chris Hardwick is an American television host, comedian, and podcaster who has become a leading figure in “nerd culture” and mainstream game shows. He attended UCLA, where he studied philosophy. His hosting career began in 1994 with the MTV show Trashed. This was followed by several other MTV hosting gigs in the mid-1990s, including the dating game show Singled Out, which propelled him into the limelight. 

Over the years, Hardwick built a varied résumé in hosting. He hosted Web Soup on G4 and later created and hosted Comedy Central’s @midnight, which aired more than 600 episodes. He is widely known for hosting “The Walking Dead on AMC, a post-episode discussion series about the “The Walking Dead franchise, and the talk show Talking with Chris Hardwick. Currently, he serves as host and executive producer of NBC’s game show The Wall.

On a personal level, Hardwick is married to model and actress Lydia Hearst. The couple lives in the Los Angeles area and has a daughter together. Hardwick is a vocal advocate for sobriety and mental health, often discussing his journey of nearly 25 years of sobriety and his experiences with anxiety.