‘How I Met Your Mother’: Alyson Hannigan Wanted the Mother to Be This 1 of Ted’s Girlfriends
How I Met Your Mother was one of the most popular sitcoms when it ran from 2005 to 2014. Even today, it continues to be a pop culture icon with its iconic characters and memorable catch phrases.
What makes HIMYM special is the fact that it managed to hide a big secret for much of the show: The identity of The Mother. Many viewers spent a lot of time wondering who The Mother could be, and actor Alyson Hannigan, who played Lily Aldrin, actually wanted one of Ted Mosby’s (Josh Radnor) girlfriends to be the iconic character.
Ted has dated countless girls on ‘How I Met Your Mother’
Much of HIMYM is about Ted’s romantic life before he met his kids’ mother. He is known for being a romantic who wants to find his true love but always seems to have obstacles in his way.
According to Buzzfeed, he dates a total of 58 women throughout the course of the show. However, many of these women are either one-night-stands or people he goes on a few dates with. Only a few—such as Victoria, Stella, and Zoey—would be in serious relationships with him.
Alyson Hannigan wanted this 1 girlfriend to be The Mother
Of course, out of all the women Ted dates, only one would become the mother of his children. That special someone is Tracy (Cristin Milioti), whom viewers met in the final episode of season 8 and who became a series regular in season 9.
However, long before Tracy appears on the show, Hannigan wanted Victoria, Ted’s season 1 girlfriend, to be The Mother.
“Early on, I wanted Victoria to be the mom,” Hannigan told Huffpost. “I guess Carter [Bays, producer] later said had we got canceled she would’ve been the mom.”
In any case, Hannigan confessed that she would get attached to any person who was on the show for several episodes.
“But, you know, somebody great would come on [the show] and we would be like, ‘Yeah, we want her to be the mom,’” she said. “So it was sort of just like whoever was on for a long period of time. We’re like, ‘Let her be the mom. Let her.’ We just loved everybody.”
Alyson Hannigan knew early on that The Mother would die
Even though Ted spends many years searching for The Mother, their relationship does not last very long. As revealed in the series finale, Tracy ends up passing away in 2024—six years before Ted begins telling his children his life story.
While this revelation shocked a lot of viewers, Hannigan shared that she knew it was coming.
“I knew that was the case,” Hannigan explained. “I didn’t know who the mom was going to be, but I did know that the reason he was telling all these stories is because she passed away, which was very sweet.”
However, according to Screenrant, there have also been foreshadowing throughout the show alluding to Tracy’s eventual death. For example, Ted often refers to Tracy in the past tense with his children. There is also a tombstone in one episode during season 7 that has the word “MOTHER” on it.
