Josh Radnor has admitted the How I Met Your Mother Cast is nowhere near as close as they were on screen.

The 52-year-old actor played Ted Mosby on all nine seasons alongside a star-studded ensemble featuring Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel and Cobie Smulders, and while their characters were a close-knit group, that deep friendship didn't necessarily extend beyond the beloved sitcom.

Asked if the cast are "still as close" as they were back then, he told the Half The Picture podcast: "No, no, not even a little bit."

Josh insisted there was no "dramatic" fallout, but he compared the show - which ran from 2005 to 2014 - to being in college with "intense" bonds.

He explained: "Jason and I send each other texts every once in a while when something like that reminds us of something funny on set, but I haven't seen him in a really long time.

"Cobie we had on the [podcast] twice, so I've seen her mostly on Zoom. And I have love for all these people."

He noted Neil was also on his How We Made Your Mother podcast, where they "had a really interesting conversation about some of the tension we had on set that was fascinating and kind of healing".

Josh continued: "Aly was at my wedding, but I haven't seen her, I don't think, since.

"It's like college, where you have this very intense time together and you think you're gonna be -- you can't imagine not seeing each other every day 'cause you've seen each other every day for so long, and then it just disperses and you go out and live your life."

He pointed out that fans have a "yearning" for the cast of certain shows to emulate their characters' friendships.

He added: "People really wanna believe that me and Neil and Jason are hitting bars in New York City together."

However, Josh compared the cast to a "family" rather than friends, and described acting as "a lot of little love affairs that you have, and then you move on".

He explained: "We were cast. We didn't choose each other. And family dynamics come out to play when you're in an environment like that for so long.

"But you also have love that is quite deep and rich and probably everlasting. But it's not an active love."