Fans Think They Know Who the Dad Is After "How I Met Your Father"'s Cancellation

Updated on 9/5/2023 at 1:45 PM

Season two of "How I Met Your Father" drew to a close on July 11, and — not surprisingly — the identity of the titular father had yet to be revealed. But on Sept. 1, Deadline reported that Hulu made the shocking decision to cancel the series, which means we'll never see Sophie (Hilary Duff) fall in love with her son's dad and bring their child into the world.

However, in the days after the show's cancellation, fans circulated reports that the father was meant to be perhaps the most unlikely candidate: Sid (Suraj Sharma). The series begins with Sid's engagement to Hannah (Ashley Reyes), and they marry at the end of season one. At the end of season two, they might be splitting up, but Sid is still the best friend of Jesse (Christopher Lowell), who's Sophie's biggest love interest during the show.

In 2022, a Reddit user posted that he had seen comedian Dan Levy (not to be confused with the "Schitt's Creek" creator) do a stand-up set. He had worked on season one of the show (but not season two) and revealed to the crowd that Sid was originally meant to be the dad in the end. Of course, it's possible that the writers changed their minds after season one, or that they would have explored new directions down the line. But Sophie and Sid did start spending more time with each other in season two, and they had a sweet chemistry.

Unfortunately, with the show's cancellation, it's possible we'll never find out who the dad was meant to be, unless the show's creators confirm. Ahead, we rounded up every theory about who the potential father might be and ranked them from most to least likely

Is Sid the Father on "How I Met Your Father"?

Sid has always ranked pretty low on the list of possible fathers, but only because he's married to Hannah. But at the end of season two, Sid found out Hannah cheated on him, and it looks like they could be breaking up for good.

Sid and Sophie probably interact the least out of the main cast, but some fans are convinced that's just to keep viewers off the scent. Plus, it's hard to imagine a future where Jesse would be totally fine with his bestie being with Sophie. Yet, seen from another perspective, that gives Sophie and Sid the most interesting dramatic odds to get through. If the show had been renewed (or returned on another streamer), it could be interesting to see how the show tried to pull it off.

Is Drew the Father on "How I Met Your Father"?

Drew (Josh Peck) was Sophie's main love interest in season one. He seems to be everything Sophie is looking for in a partner, and he was in attendance at the engagement party in episode one, making him a prime candidate. But Sophie learned that Drew didn't respect her for having a "real" job, and their relationship ended. If this school principal can get over his uptightness and appreciate Sophie's art, then maybe they can make it work. Plus, in the Valentine's Day episode, we see Drew in the flashback saying he loves the holiday, and he's not involved in the episode, making it 100 percent true that he wasn't in that story. Drew reappears toward the end of season one, and in the finale, he even makes out with Valentina, but adult Sophie reveals that their hookup doesn't last. Sophie isn't interested in him right now, but things definitely could have evolved further in a third season.

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, making this pairing a 2000s kid's dream.

Is Ian the Father on "How I Met Your Father"?

Ian (Daniel Augustin) seems to represent what Ted had with his ex Victoria. Even though they came so close to being together a couple of times, they just weren't each other's lebenslangerschicksalsschatz (a German phrase that means "lifelong treasure of destiny").

Similarly, Sophie and Ian seem like endgame in a lot of ways, but something always gets in the way. Ian spent most of season one on the other side of the world, only to return in the finale. But in the first episode of season two, things don't work out with him again as Sophie tries to make sense of the romantic minefield she's found herself in. But, since Ian likes Valentine's Day and doesn't appear in that episode, he comes in pretty high on the list. Near the end of season two, we also find out that he is back in New York and working at Columbia — though he's in a new relationship. It seemed likely he would return in season three to cause more chaos.

Is Jesse the Father on "How I Met Your Father"?

Ah, the Robin equivalent of our spinoff! Everything in the reboot tells us that Sophie and Jesse will fall in love. In season one, they gave a romantic relationship a go, but it ground to a halt when Jesse's ex Meredith (Leighton Meester) came back into the picture. Based on the Valentine's Day episode, it seems Jesse isn't the father, but that could just be a misdirect. Or the two could end up together long-term after Sophie has her son.

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 was always a strong frontrunner, but it seems "How I Met Your Father" wanted to take a page from the original series's playbook and turn him into a good ol' red herring. Either way, Sophie and Jesse decide at the end of season two to give their romance another try, but fans won't get to see where it evolves from there.

Is Charlie the Father on "How I Met Your Father"?

Since the older Sophie (Kim Cattrall) said she met her son's father on the night of the premiere episode, we couldn't rule out Charlie (Tom Ainsley) as a contender. Still, among Sophie's crew of friends, Charlie was always the least likely to be the father.

Charlie spent season one dating Sophie's best friend, Valentina (Francia Raisa), and even though they split, 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 involved. Plus, he's also in the Valentine's Day episode.

And then there's the season two finale. In the last moments of the episode, Sophie reveals that Charlie and Valentina did get back together and had a baby of their own. We can definitively say that Charlie is not the father.

Is Barney the Father on "How I Met Your Father"?

Some fans had a theory that Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) turns out to be the father of Sophie's offspring! While the womanizer had a baby girl named Ellie with an undisclosed mother in the "How I Met Your Mother" season nine finale, it is possible Sophie will later meet Barney, fall in love, and have a kid with him who's a half-sibling to Ellie. This theory seemed kind of ridiculous — until Barney showed up in season two. But Sophie's son had no idea who he was, and he and Sophie don't stay in touch after their brief but impactful encounter, basically confirming he's not the father.

Will the Father Even Be Sophie's Partner on "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, but some fans believed that's a false clue. The father could be a sperm donor. Sophie could decide to have a child on her own after not finding love, or she could end up with a partner who can't be a biological father and ask one of her friends to be a donor. Or she could become pregnant with one of the candidates and just not end up with them long-term.

That really opens up the floor for who Sophie could have ended up with romantically. Some fans were rooting for Sophie to realize she's not straight and end up with Ellen (Tien Tran), but the options would have been wide open in that case. It would be a little bit of a fake-out, but with the right storylines, it could have been really fun to watch!