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Neil Patrick Harris: Inspiring Story behind 'How I Met Your Mother' Star's Relationship with David Burtka

Bettina Dizon
Oct 10, 2019
08:00 P.M.

Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, David Burtka, shared their decade-long love story from how they crossed paths to where they are now: "I just stammered around him. I couldn't take my eyes off him."

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About a week ago, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka spent time together in Vegas, even posting a cute selfie about it on Instagram. The "How I Met Your Mother" star captioned the post:

"Spent the weekend in Vegas with my favorite."

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The couple has been together for over a decade and recounted their love story, which they both didn't see coming. In fact, Harris already foreshadowed a life living alone after they met.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Harris met Burtka through his friend Kate, whom he mistakenly thought was his boyfriend. His initial thoughts of Burtka were of his handsome looks that of "a brooding, James Dean-type guy in a leather jacket."

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On the other hand, Burtka recalled bumping into the actor on the street and introducing himself. He said:

"I thought it would be nice to know him, but I didn't think in a million years I'd start dating him."

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As soon as he finished taping for Netflix's "A Series of Unfortunate Events," Harris finally came home to spend time and focus on his family.

Burtka was still in a long-term relationship when they met land so their hangouts were nothing romantic. However, after he broke up with his boyfriend, the dating began. He recalled:

"I ended up breaking with my boyfriend, and a week later, Neil and I had a date… We started hanging out every single night, and after three months, it was just non-stop."

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MOVING TO LA

The couple moved to LA in 2005 after Harris landed a role in the hit series "How I Met Your Mother," which he thought would only last a short while, but ended up running for nearly a decade. Harris shared:

"I assumed the show would be a short chapter. But the plan was always to come back to New York when the show ended and raise our family."

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STARTING A FAMILY

On October 12, 2010, the couple welcomed their fraternal twins, who were conceived through a surrogate mother. They named their son Gideon and their daughter Harper.

As soon as he finished taping for Netflix's "A Series of Unfortunate Events," Harris finally came home to spend time and focus on his family. He said:

"My upcoming project is not working. It's gleefully not working. [I'm just getting back into the routine of being a dad all the time, not just being a dad who's there for a few days until I have to leave again."

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