Broadway's Laura Bell Bundy to Star on 'How I Met Your Mother'

Barney will be stoked that there's a new girl in the fold on 'How I Met Your Mother,' especially because she's going to be played by ... wait for it ... Broadway vet Laura Bell Bundy.

According to the Ausiello Files, Bundy, who's best known for embodying Elle Woods in the Great White Way's version of 'Legally Blonde,' will join the cast NOT as Ted's future baby mama, but as Robin's co-anchor on Metro News One. (Fans will recall that Robin's last sidekick, Don, skipped town in the season ender after breaking up with her.)

Bundy may look familiar to die-hard soap fans -- she played Marah Shayne Lewis on 'The Guiding Light' from 1999-2001. And, in 2008, the 29 year-old Kentucky native helped Haylie Duff ferret out Broadway hopefuls on MTV's 'Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods.'

Ausiello also got scoop from 'HIMYM' exec producer Craig Thomas about Ted's love life. "There's going to be a new woman in [his] life that is very complicated and intriguing," promises Thomas. "It's going to be a big arc, a huge arc for this season. It's going to be a little bit less date-of-the-week for Ted, which is what season 5 was. This year, we're back to the fact that Ted is the "I" in 'How I Met Your Mother.' There's going to be a huge push of forward momentum for Ted on that search and that journey."

Co-exec producer Carter Bays also confided that things will get shaken up quite a lot this season, saying that, "There's going to be a big game-changing moment" in the premiere episode. And Thomas added that "If [the show] is a three-act play, this is kind of the beginning of the third act. [In it, there's] going to be...a huge push that will lead us into the last big chapter."

The promising new season of 'HIMYM' is set to premiere at 8PM on Mon, Sept. 20.