Legendary! How I Met Your Father has yet to reveal who the father actually is — but fans are beginning to speculate the answer may not be who it first seemed.
The Hulu series — which premiered in July 2022 — is a spinoff of fan-favorite sitcom How I Met Your Mother, which came to a close after nine seasons in 2014. The original show starred Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel, with the late Bob Saget serving as narrator.
The controversial series finale sparked instant debate among viewers, who waited nearly a decade for the reveal of Ted’s (Radnor) wife. While watching the main character tie the knot with Tracy McConnell, portrayed by Cristin Milioti, left fans feeling hopeful, the last-minute reveal of her death and Ted’s eventual reconciliation with ex-girlfriend Robyn (Smulders) sparked outrage from those who felt the Ted and Robyn love story was best left in the past. (The pair got together at the end of season 1 but called it quits due to wanting different things in life.)
How I Met Your Father, which is helmed by showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, stars Hilary Duff as lead Sophie and follows a whole new generation of 30-somethings as they navigate life and love. While the show includes endless nods to the original series, it’s also paved its own story.
The writers, for their part, have kept the physical appearance of Sophie’s son under wraps to avoid giving anything away about the identity of the father among the diverse cast. A finite list of who the father could be was introduced in the pilot: Jesse (Chris Lowell), Ian (Daniel Augustin), Charlie (Tom Ainsley), Drew (Josh Peck) or Sid (Suraj Sharma).
“We have a very loose plan of the ending. We obviously come from the This Is Us world,” Berger told Variety in March 2022, referring to the beloved NBC drama. “So we’ve learned over the last almost full six seasons how important it is to have sort of the big moves of your plan mapped up out while still leaving yourself the room and the freedom to pivot or to push a little bit from what you expected. We really are people that have locked into the importance of having a plan, and we definitely have one as we go forward.”
While Sophie and Jesse’s immediate chemistry sparked speculation that he would be the Robyn to her Ted, the show has slowly diverted away from the pair’s romantic tension and introduced opportunities for new possible endings — with viewers questioning whether Sid might be Sophie’s true match.
Sid married wife Hannah (Ashley Reyes) in season 2, but the two are living on opposite sides of the country and are constantly at odds about their future. Meanwhile, little moments between Sid and Sophie have bonded the duo in meaningful ways throughout the series — including Sid being there for Sophie when she was in search of her own father.
In March 2022, Sharma opened up about what it’s like sharing the screen with an icon like Duff.
“When I was a kid I had watched Lizzie McGuire with my brother and my sister at home coming back from school,” he told Mashable India at the time. “So definitely, I was a fan. Hilary is such a sweet, kind and genuine human being. It’s really nice to know one can live the life she has lived and gone through things and still come out sane and normal.”
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Keep scrolling for all the best fan theories on why Sid might be the father:
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