Scene-stealers only: ranking How I Met Your Mother’s celebrity cameos

These weren’t blink-and-you-miss-’em walk-ons. When How I Met Your Mother brought in ringers, the show rewired whole episodes around them — from surreal magazine-cover pep talks to an R&B slow jam about a slap. Here are the cameos fans still talk about, and the very specific reasons each one crushed.

The 10 cameos, ranked

• 10) Heidi Klum — herself (The Yips, Season 3, Episode 10)
  Barney loses his swagger to “the yips,” and the gang winds up at the Victoria’s Secret After Party, where Klum calmly hands him the exact confidence reset he needs. The supermodel’s serene, self-aware turn turned a midseason episode into late-2000s TV glamour, a quick hit that felt like an event.
• 9) Lucy Hale — Katie Scherbatsky (First Time in New York, S2E12; Vesuvius, S9E19)
  As Robin’s wide-eyed kid sister, Hale sparks big-sis panic and unlocks fresh layers of the Scherbatsky family. The chemistry with Cobie Smulders sold Katie as more than a stunt; her return for Robin’s wedding in Season 9 lands like a proper family reunion.
• 8) Martin Short — Garrison Cootes (The Naked Truth, S7E1; recurring)
  Short detonates every scene as Marshall’s apocalyptic-tinged environmental-law boss, pinballing from doomsday to giddy pep in a heartbeat. His unhinged office rants, plus a hilariously intense mentor vibe with Marshall, made a quick recurring stint feel monumental.
• 7) Kim Kardashian — herself (Benefits, Season 4, Episode 12)
  Marshall’s workplace bathroom anxiety hits a tabloid wall — literally — as Kardashian talks to him from the cover of Weekly Style with a bizarrely earnest pep talk about self-worth and bodily functions. The fourth-wall break is pure late-2000s absurdism, with Kardashian completely in on the joke.
• 6) Mike Tyson — himself (Bad Crazy, Season 8, Episode 16)
  Robin’s chaotic night out turns into an A-list babysitting saga when the former heavyweight champ helps care for baby Marvin in a West Side convenience store. The contrast — fearsome boxer turned tender, deeply invested coo-er — is comedy gold, and Robin treating him like a slightly eccentric sitter somehow makes it even funnier.
• 5) Jennifer Lopez — Anita Appleby (Of Course, Season 5, Episode 17)
  Barney meets a buzzsaw. Lopez plays a razor-sharp relationship author who uses her playbook, Of Course You’re Still Single, to train him like a misbehaving puppy and flip every one of his moves back on him. Watching Barney cave and agree to a real date is deliciously satisfying.
• 4) Will Forte — Randy Wharmphtess (Season 3; Natural History, S6E8)
  Forte turns pathetic into iconic as Barney’s panicky GNB colleague: instant nosebleeds around women, a home-brew obsession he proudly yells “Wharmphtess!,” and hopeless attempts to master Barney’s pickup playbook. Fans loved him so much that his Season 6 comeback played like a victory lap.
• 3) Boyz II Men — themselves (Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra, Season 9, Episode 14)
  After Marshall delivers an epic, daylight, slow-motion slap, the R&B legends glide in wearing all white and sing the most soulful roast in sitcom history.

“You Just Got Slapped.”

• 2) Katy Perry — Honey (Oh Honey, Season 6, Episode 15)
  At the peak of her pop superstardom, Perry fearlessly plays Zoey’s catastrophically gullible cousin — so naive the gang can only sigh, “Oh, Honey.” From trusting her “sweet” landlord to oversharing personal info, the bit became instant viewer vocabulary.
• 1) Britney Spears — Abby (Ten Sessions, S3E13; Everything Must Go, S3E19)
  Spears’ chaotic receptionist at Stella’s dermatology clinic crashes into the gang with a shrieked “I’m Abby!,” a revenge pact with Barney to needle Ted, and a whirlwind of lovelorn dramatics — including frantically dropped sweaters. Beyond the laughs, her episodes drew a ratings surge that reportedly helped pull the show back from early cancellation and gave Season 3 real momentum.