After what feels like two decades of waiting, the Friends reunion has finally aired with all six original cast members—Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry—returning to the stage where it all began, and it was filled with unmissable moments.
“The One Where They All Got Back Together” was the perfect viewing for longtime fans of the ’90s sitcom, which featured candid conversations between its six cast members, a sit-down panel interview conducted by television host James Corden, as well as a look back at all 10 seasons of Friends.
Of course, behind-the-scenes footage and bloopers provided some hilarious reactions, while creators and celebrity guest stars were sprinkled throughout (including Lady Gaga with a perfect rendition of Phoebe’s iconic song, “Smelly Cat”).
Below, the best moments from the Friends reunion.
Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer admitted to having “crushes” on each other.
When James Corden asked the cast if any of their onscreen romances had turned into love offscreen, the cast was quick to say that none of them had ever hooked up but a surprising admission came from one of the sitcom’s most memorable couples.
Aniston passed the question to Schwimmer, who said, “The first season, I had a major crush on Jen.” The actress quickly added, “It was reciprocated.”
“At some point, we were both crushing hard on each other, but it was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship. We never crossed that boundary. We respected that,” Schwimmer added.
The pair further explained that their first kiss was, in fact, onscreen—the famous scene when Ross and Rachel kiss in the Central Perk doorway.
“We just channelled all our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel,” Aniston said.
Aww!!
Lady Gaga, dressed as Phoebe Buffay, performs a rendition of “Smelly Cat.”
Appearing during the HBO Max special, Kudrow returned to Central Perk’s legendary orange couch with her guitar and began singing her character’s most iconic song, “Smelly Cat”, and none other than Lady Gaga decided to join her for the singalong.
Dressed exactly as Phoebe would have, the singer wore her blonde hair half-up in space buns, a patterned crop, floral pants, a crocheted yellow coat with furry hot pink trim and lace-up purple platform boots.
“I love ‘Smelly Cat,’ it’s one of my favourite songs,” Gaga told the actress.
When the song was finished, Kudrow added some of her classic wit to the occasion: “I still think it’s better when it’s just me,” she told the Oscar-winning singer.
Finishing on a sentimental note, Gaga thanked Kudrow for her character’s signature uniqueness. “Thank you so much for being the person for all of us on Friends that was—I don’t know if this is the right way to say it, but the different one, or the one that was really herself,” she said.
The cast relived one of the series’ most iconic episodes with a quiz.
Taking a trip down memory lane, the cast revisits its famous quiz episode (“The One With The Embryos”) and added in some new questions for the occasion. LeBlanc hilariously picked out which hands belonged to his former identical hand twin (Thomas Lennon) and Monica’s downstairs neighbour Mr Heckles (Larry Hankin) and former boyfriend Richard (Tom Selleck) all made appearances, with the cast needing to identify their voices. And after all these years, we learn that not one member of the cast, including Perry, ever knew what Chandler’s actual job was.
Justin Bieber and Cara Delevingne sport Ross’ best costumes.
While Justin Bieber and Cara Delevingne never starred in the series, the celebrity pair made a surprise appearance dressed in Ross’ Spudnick costume and the Holiday Armadillo, respectively.
Reflecting on the costume, Schwimmer said he remembered that it was the same episode where Sean Penn guest-starred on the series. “I had very little if any dialogue with him,” the actor said. “But here I am thinking, ‘Greatest actor in the world, and I’m a f*king potato. I’m a potato.’”
Delevingne also got the privilege of modelling Rachel’s bridesmaid dress.
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