“How I Met Your Father” seems to take a different route from its predecessor “How I Met Your Mother”. Many viewers are wondering who is the father in “How I Met Your Father” and it’s a secret that the cast members are hoping will be a “multi-season mystery.”
Season one ended on a cliffhanger with some surprise cameos from the original show’s beloved cast. Sophie (Hilary Duff) and Jesse (Chris Lowell) finally got together but their relationship was over before the episode ended.
He told Sophie he loved her in his sleep, which freaked her out. Sophie heads to a small little bar called MaClaren’s . Yes, you guessed it right! It’s the same bar where the gang hung out in nearly every episode of “How I Met Your Mother.”
Let’s get into further details regarding the mystery.
Who will be the Father in HIMYF?
There might be still uncertainty regarding that but it’s something fans have been speculating about since the finale aired in March 2022. We’ve narrowed it down to four guys. It can be Uber driver Jesse (Chris Lowell), Pemberton’s Pub owner Sid (Suraj Sharma), Tinder date Ian (Daniel Augustin), or British ex-pat Charlie (Tom Ainsley).
Let’s get into character in detail.
I. Ian
While Sophie’s Tinder date, Ian is suggested as a promising option, there are still reasons why he seems like an unlikely final father. From the onset, Ian is set up as being entirely perfect for Sophie.
His only “How I Met Your Father” flaw for Sophie is that he is moving to Australia, and this also makes him a difficult character to use. It’s pretty obvious that viewers will favor a relationship where there has been more onscreen chemistry.
Sophie and Ian seem like endgames in a lot of ways, but something always gets in the way. We saw Ian spend most of season one on the other side of the world, only to return in the finale. But in the first episode of Season 2, things don’t work out with him again. Sophie tries her best to make sense of the romantic minefield she’s found herself in.
Ian could always return, but it seems unlikely he’s really the one.
II. Charlie
Since the older Sophie (Kim Cattrall) said she met her son’s father on the night of the premiere episode, we can’t rule out Charlie as a contender. Sill, among Sophie’s crew of friends, Charlie is the least likely to be the father.
We saw Charlie spend Season 1 dating Sophie’s best friend, Valentina (Francia Raisa). Although they broke up, dating her friend’s ex would be a pretty low blow for Sophie. Charlie and Valentina explicitly split because he doesn’t want kids, and she does, so this turn of events would be majorly devastating for all.
Yet we can never really say never.
III. Jesse
While any of them could eventually come to be “How I Met Your Father’s father”, Jesse is the most likely choice. He is the most clearly defined character in Season 1 and has a deeper connection with Sophie.
Everything in the reboot tells us that Sophie and Jesse will fall in love. In Season 1, they gave the romantic relationship a go, but it came to a halt when Jesse’s ex Meredith came back into the picture. Although they are currently just friends, it seems their story isn’t over yet.
As Robin once said in “HIMYM,” “If you have chemistry, you only need one other thing: timing. But timing’s a b*tch.” Could that be the case with our lovelorn Jesse here?
He’s a strong frontrunner, unless “How I Met Your Father” takes a page from the original series’s playbook and turns him into a good ol’ red herring.
IV. Sid
If Sid turns out to be the father, many viewers would be surprised.
Sid is married, but we all know his relationship with Hannah is doomed. Long distance is killing them, and many signs point toward their marriage only ending in disaster. As for Sophie, she’s a hot mess.
Although it is hard to overlook the bond that she and Jesse share, it will be way too obvious if Jesse is the father. Right now, we can’t imagine a world where Sophie and Sid end up together. They have a wonderful relationship that could eventually blossom into romance.
We’ll just have to wait and see if that’s in the cards for them. However, Sid could still be the father of Sophie’s son. Perhaps Sophie does end up with Jesse, but they need a sperm donor, and Sid comes to his best friends’ rescue.
V. Is Drew the Father?
Drew was Sophie’s main love interest in Season 1. He seems to be everything Sophie is looking for in a partner, and he was in attendance at the engagement party in episode one. This surely makes him a prime candidate. But their relationship ended when Sophie learned that Drew didn’t respect her.
If this school principal can get over his uptightness and appreciate Sophie’s art, then maybe they can make it work.
Drew was a fan favorite in season one, but that may have more to do with nostalgia than anything else. Peck starred in Nickelodeon’s hit show “Drake & Josh” around the same time Duff was starring in “Lizzie McGuire” on Disney Channel. This made the pairing a 2000s kids’ dream.
VI. The Barney Theory
Some fans have a theory that Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) turns out to be the father of Sophie’s offspring!
The womanizer had a baby girl named Ellie with an undisclosed mother in the “How I Met Your Mother” Season 9 finale. Sophie may later meet Barney, fall in love, and have a kid with him who’s a half-sibling to Ellie.
The theory seemed ridiculous until Barney showed up in Season 2. We’ll have to wait and see if the father’s identity is another tie-in to the original series.
Will the Father even be Sophie’s partner in “How I Met Your Father?”
Every other guess on this list supposes that Sophie’s son’s father is someone she’s romantically involved with. Although some fans think that’s a red herring. The father could be a sperm donor.
Sophie could decide to have a child on her own after not finding love. She could also end up with a partner who can’t be a biological father and ask one of her friends to be a donor.
Some fans are rooting for Sophie to realize she’s not straight and end up with Ellen (Tien Tran) or Valentina, but the options are wide open in this case. It would be a little bit of a fake-out, but with the right storylines, it could be fun to watch!
Overall, it remains most probable that in How I Met Your Father Jesse is the father.
About How I Met Your Father
How I Met Your Father (HIMYF) is a spinoff series of the incredibly successful CBS show, How I Met Your Mother. The original show ran for nine seasons, from 2005 to 2014, quickly making its mark with a dedicated cult-like fanbase.
HIMYF was announced to start production in April 2021 with the Lizzy McGuire star Hilary Duff playing the lead called Sophie, narrating her journey to her children in the future.
The show’s flashbacks will start from Sophie and her close friends navigating love, life and struggles in the modern era of dating, paying bills and more, in 2021.
Created by writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger of This Is Us fame and directed by the original show’s director, Pamela Fryman, the first season of HIMYF is revealed to have 10 episodes. No further details have yet been released.
No Comments on Who is the Father in HIMYF? The Most Likely Contenders Ranked