‘How I Met Your Father’ star not convinced that cameo was enough for ‘Lizzie McGuire’ fans

The Hulu series, How I Met Your Father gave its fans a small throwback to the 2001 series, Lizzie McGuire back in March. But this small tribute to the iconic Disney series isn’t enough for the show’s star, who believes there is still room for this show to still exist today.

During an interview with Shape.com, How I Met Your Father star Hilary Duff talked about the Disney throwback during the seventh episode of season two, titled “A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Valentine’s Day.” In the episode, Duff’s character, Sophie, shares her terrible Valentine’s Day experience with her friends, one of which features a flashback to a scene in the Lizzie McGuire season two episode ‘First Kiss.’

The actress claims that the flashback wasn’t “enough to satisfy” her acceptance that the Lizzie McGuire reboot was shelved by Disney. Duff was meant to be the executive producer for the show, and she believes that one of the reasons the reboot wasn’t released due to “the fear of failure.”

“I don’t think it was enough to satisfy the fact that [the Disney+ Lizzie McGuire revival] project is shelved.

 “The fear of failure is, of course, there, but I don’t think if our show didn’t get picked up, I would be like, ‘I could have done this differently,’” she says.

The Lizzie McGuire reboot was a series that would have seen the titular character navigating adulthood. The show would have some of the original cast members reprising their roles. However, in 2020, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Lizzie McGuire creator, Terri Minsky stepped away from the project due to creative differences and fan expectations. This led to delays, which led to a hiatus, and its current status of being shelved, despite two episodes having already been filmed.

While the reboot didn’t see the light of day, the actress still believes that the shelved series could happen sometime in the future. In an interview with Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live back in January, Duff claimed that she’s still optimistic that the series could happen and that Disney Plus was “still new” when the reboot was first pitched. She also argues that if Disney Plus doesn’t want the show, it could have a place somewhere on Hulu. But with the two streaming platforms having plans to merge at some point in the future, the future of the Lizzie McGuire reboot will forever remain unknown.

How I Met Your Father is available to stream on Hulu. Meanwhile, the first and second season of Lizzie McGuire is available to stream on Disney Plus.