Neil Patrick Harris Says WWE Fandom Was Early Sign He Was Gay

Neil Patrick Harris is opening up about an unexpected piece of his personal history: he says that secretly enjoying WWE as a kid was one of the first signs that he was gay.

Harris, best known for starring as the title character in Doogie Howser, M.D. and later as Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother, publicly came out in 2006. His comments connecting his early wrestling fandom to his sexuality add a personal, reflective angle to a piece of pop-culture history that wrestling fans may not have been aware of.

It’s a reminder of just how far WWE’s cultural footprint has always extended beyond the traditional wrestling audience. For decades, the promotion has drawn eyes from Hollywood, music, and mainstream entertainment circles, and stories like Harris’s underline how personal and varied people’s relationships with the product can be. Wrestling has often served as a coded space for fans to process identity, community, and belonging long before the industry itself made LGBTQ+ representation a visible part of its storytelling.

Harris isn’t a stranger to entertainment crossovers of this kind — he’s spent much of his career navigating between family-friendly sitcom roles and edgier, self-aware humor, most notably as the womanizing yet lovable Barney Stinson. That same self-aware candor seems to be at play here, as he looks back on his childhood fandom through the lens of his adult identity.

While the comments don’t tie into any current WWE storyline or talent, they speak to something wrestling media loves to explore: the surprising, often deeply personal ways fans found their way into the business. Whether it was late-night viewings, secret VHS tapes, or Saturday morning programming, plenty of longtime fans have their own origin stories about how wrestling shaped parts of their identity well before they had the language to describe it.

Harris has never been a fixture in wrestling circles the way some other celebrities have, making this rare bit of insight into his younger years feel especially notable. It’s unclear if this reflection ties into any specific interview promoting new work, but it’s the kind of crossover moment that tends to resonate widely with fans who appreciate WWE’s reach into mainstream celebrity culture.

For now, there’s no indication Harris has plans to appear on WWE programming or connect further with the company, but his comments serve as another example of the show’s surprising influence across generations and audiences far removed from the squared circle itself.