Although How I Met Your Mother ultimately had an incredibly controversial finale, and that has actually left many fans with mixed feelings about the show even all these years later, it is nevertheless a cult classic series and, for many, it remains a beloved show. In large part, that popularity was due to the charming cast, comprising (at least in terms of the main group of friends) Josh Radnor, who played Ted; Neil Patrick Harris, who played Barney; Cobie Smulders, who played Robin; Alyson Hannigan, who played Lily; and Jason Segel, who played Marshall. As is true of many ensemble casts, particularly those making up a tight-knit friend group on-screen, audiences often hope that something like the dynamics they’re seeing on screen are also happening in real life.
Of course, adult viewers should be aware and willing to accept that friends in movies and on television shows don’t automatically translate to the stars being friends in real life, and there is arguably something a bit parasocial about wanting actors to actually be friends. Even so, it’s a natural response from audiences who have grown to love particular characters and actors over the course of a show, and that is undoubtedly the case for many How I Met Your Mother fans. Unfortunately, Ted actor Josh Radnor has just popped that bubble a bit with some surprising recent comments about where he actually stands with his former fellow castmates.
Despite the How I Met Your Mother characters being incredibly close on the show, a recent interview with Radnor has revealed that, at least for him, those relationships have completely fizzled off camera. According to Deadline, Radnor shared that he is “Not even a little bit” close with any of the other How I Met Your Mother stars. Radnor explained, “I don’t mean that in any dramatic way. It’s just…We had Neil [Patrick Harris] on the podcast, and he and I had a really interesting conversation about some of the tension we had on set that was fascinating and kind of healing.” The podcast that Radnor is referencing is his own, the How I Met Your Mother rewatch podcast titled How We Made Your Mother, which he hosts alongside series co-creator Craig Thomas.
Radnor further explained that he and Jason Segel “send each other texts every once in a while when something reminds us of something funny on set” but that they hadn’t seen one another in a very long time. Similarly, Radnor confirmed that Smulders has been on his podcast multiple times, although he has primarily seen her on Zoom, and the last time he saw Hannigan was at his wedding in 2024. Clearly, this is not quite the close group many fans of the show might be hoping for, although Radnor did add, “I have love for all these people…It’s like college where you have this very intense time together, and you think you’re going to be, you can’t imagine not seeing each other every day because you’ve seen each other every day for so long. And then it just disperses, and you just go out and live your life.”
While Radnor’s comments certainly don’t suggest bad blood within the group, there’s little doubt that many How I Met Your Mother fans will be disappointed with this update—and it very well might make a rewatch feel quite different.
