The Untold Truth Of How I Met Your Mother
By Emily Bell
How I Met Your Mother became a family affair behind the scenes, with the main cast becoming good friends and playing big roles in each other's lives. The show's friendly environment allowed Hannigan, Harris, and Smulders to bring on their real-life spouses to star with them.
Alexis Denisof, who married his Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-star Hannigan in 2003, appeared on the show as Sandy Rivers, Robin's conceited co-anchor at both Metro News 1 and World Wide News. Although Sandy rarely appeared alongside Lily, Denisof and Hannigan remain solid partners in real life, with two daughters, Satyana Marie and Keeva Jane. There was almost another member of the Hannigan-Denisof family to appear on the show as well—according to Hannigan, one of her daughters was signed up to play Marshall and Lilly's second child, but she aged out of the part and someone else was cast.
Harris brought his husband David Burtka, who he married in 2014 with longtime HIMYM director Pamela Fryman as the officiator, on as Lily's ex-boyfriend Scooter, who's still pining over his high school love. Burtka and Harris, like Hannigan and Denisof, rarely shared scenes together; however, fans can get a glimpse inside their real-life relationship on Harris's social media accounts, where the actor often posts adorable pictures of their twins Gideon Scott and Harper Grace.
Smulders married Saturday Night Live actor Taran Killam in 2014, with the pair since having two daughters. Killam appeared for six episodes as Gary Blauman, Ted and Marshall's Goliath National Bank co-worker. The character most notably appeared in the season nine episode "Gary Blauman," in which the gang debated whether or not he could stay at Robin and Barney's wedding; even though he ended up being invited to the party thanks to Robin's insistence, he left anyway, prompting one of the show's most complicated shots as Ted gives a long explanation of where some of the show's more minor characters ended up. Luckily, Gary comes back and stays... to see his real-life wife get married to someone else. Awkward.
The series' stars weren't the only ones who got to appear with their spouses (or future spouses) on the show: one very lucky couple actually got engaged on set. The ring Ted accidentally proposed to Robin with in "Something Blue" was used for a real proposal just minutes later by Timothy Russo, who popped the question to his girlfriend Jana Rugan. Russo says his brother had a friend who worked on the show, and, since it was Jana's favorite, his brother suggested he propose on set. Russo's brother was able to get him a spot for an extra in the background of the proposal scene, but when the director shouted a secret signal, he actually proposed instead. "At first she thought I was messing up the scene, then it dawned on her and she started crying and everyone was clapping," he said. "It was awesome."
