You Totally Missed This Gossip Girl Connection In HIMYF
But don’t worry — it’s apparently not the last chance you’ll get to catch it.
The How I Met Your Father cast is filled with actors who mean a lot to millennial audiences. Hilary Duff grew up with an entire generation on Lizzie McGuire, while Josh Peck made ’90s babies laugh through Nickelodeon’s most iconic years. And for a certain group of superfans, Christopher Lowell will always be Veronica Mars’ lovably goofy bestie, Piz. But what if I told you there was another mega-iconic millennial star hidden in the HIMYF premiere that you totally missed? I’m talking the headbanded harbinger of societal doom herself, Blair Waldorf. Leighton Meester’s HIMYF cameo was super brief, but it sounds like she’ll be back later on.
Don’t feel bad if you completely missed Meester in the first episode of How I Met Your Father — her character was on screen for only a couple seconds and is mostly just shown in profile, so it’s hard to recognize her right away. She played Jesse’s ex-girlfriend and former bandmate Meredith, who publicly turned down his marriage proposal. Jesse explained to Sophie that the failed proposal was caught on video and has since became an embarrassing viral clip. Viewers saw a glimpse of that clip, which revealed Meester as Meredith.
Thankfully, it sounds like this won’t be Meester’s only appearance in HIMYF. TVLine reported that Meester will recur throughout Season 1 as Meredith, although it’s not yet clear how many episodes she will be in. Jesse did state that Meredith was currently in Europe recording her solo album, so maybe she’ll return to New York on a concert tour, or perhaps she’ll make the trip back just to get some closure with Jesse.
Of course, Meester is best known for playing the vengeful socialite Blair Waldorf in the original Gossip Girl series, and she’s not the only GG alum returning to NYC for How I Met Your Father. Hilary Duff also had an iconic role on GG, recurring as the actor Olivia Burke throughout the show’s third season. Though Duff’s character was only around for a handful of episodes, she made a huge impression by having a pivotal threesome with Dan and Vanessa.
While Meester was only in the first episode for a few seconds, it sounds like fans will be seeing more of her soon enough, so be sure to tune into each new episode of How I Met Your Father when they release Tuesdays on Hulu.
