13 Biggest Revelations & Surprises from 'Friends' Reunion on HBO Max!

The Friends reunion special is finally available to stream on HBO Max after months and months of patiently waiting!

The special features the original cast, Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller), as well as co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, and executive producer Kevin S. Bright.

Click inside for the biggest revelations from the reunion…

Some of the big revelations are…

1. Jennifer Aniston & David Schwimmer Had Mutual Feelings for Each Other!

“The first season I had a major crush on Jen,” David said.

“It was reciprocal,” Jennifer confirmed.

Then David explained why nothing had ever happened between them. “It was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship and we never crossed that boundary. We respected that.”

Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey, then said “Bullsh*t.”

Jennifer then confirmed that she once told David, “It’s going to be such a bummer if the first time you and I kiss is on national television.” But, “sure enough, the first time we kissed was in that coffee shop. So we just channeled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel.”

2. Where Would The Characters Be Today?

Lisa, on where Phoebe would be: “I think she was probably the advocate for her kids…and all of the other kids who were a little different, creating the arts program.

Jennifer, on where Ross and Rachel would be: She mentioned that they’d be married with kids and Ross would still be playing with bones!

Courteney, on Monica and Chandler: She said Monica would be “in charge of the bake sale in elementary school. She’s just got to keep things going, PTA. And you are still making me laugh every day,” she said to Perry. “Just wanted to make sure I factored in somewhere,” he said in response.

Matt, on Joey: “I think he probably opened a sandwich shop on Venice Beach.”

3. David Schwimmer Did Not Like Working Alongside…

Marcel the Monkey! If you remember, Ross had a pet monkey named Marcel who eventually went to live at the San Diego zoo.

“The monkey didn’t do its job right,” David said. Apparently, the monkey would always mess up scenes, so David said, “we’d have to reset, we’d have to go again, because the monkey didn’t get it right. This kept happening over and over.” The monkey also would eat while sitting atop him, and he reflected, “I’d have monkey grubby hands all over. It was just time for Marcel to f*ck off.”

4. Jennifer Aniston Might Never Had Played Rachel

Jennifer Aniston was contractually obligated to another show on CBS called Muddling Through. If it had been picked up, she would have had to exit Friends.

“If CBS would have picked [‘Muddling Through’] up,” Crane recalled, “we would have had to reshoot the first three episodes of ‘Friends.’” Jennifer said the producers of Muddling Through told her about Friends, “That show’s not going to make you a star.” They were definitely wrong!

5. Matthew Perry Had an Unhealthy Relationship with the Audience

Matthew said he “felt like I was going to die if [the audience] didn’t laugh” at his jokes. “It’s not healthy, for sure, but I would sometimes say a line and they wouldn’t laugh and I would sweat and just go into convulsions. … I would freak out.” He said he felt like this “every single night.”

6. The Cast Huddled Together Before Every Episode, Except One…

The one episode they did not do a group huddle for before hand resulted in Matt LeBlanc falling, hurting his arm, and heading to the hospital.

In “The One Where No One’s Ready,” Joey dove for a chair to grab the empty seat and ended up injuring himself.

Kevin recalled, “What started out the simplest ‘Friends’ episode ended up taking the longest amount of time to shoot.”

“It was sort of early on, but then after that we’d say, ‘Do we need to do the huddle?’ And he’d say, ‘Yeah,’” Lisa said of Matt‘s fall.

7. David Schwimmer Almost Didn’t Take the Role of Ross & Had to Be Wooed

Crane said, “[We] tried to get David, [but] David had quit television. He had a miserable experience doing another show. He moved back to Chicago to just do theater.”

They had to woo David back into television and promise him it would be a positive experience, and they did!

8. Courteney Cox Auditioned for Rachel, And Made the Case for Herself to Play Monica

“We met with Courteney Cox and she explained to us why she didn’t think she was a Rachel and that she, herself, was more of a Monica — and she was right,” Marta Kauffman explained. “Courteney brought this incredible joy to the character.”

“Everything Courteney brought to it made Monica so much richer than what we had originally intended,” Crane interjected.

9. Lisa Kudrow Has a Very Hard Time Watching Herself Play Phoebe

Lisa said she absolutely cannot watch the show to this day, but her husband enjoys it.

“He enjoys them more than I do. Because I’m mortified with myself,” she said.

10. Another Actor Almost Landed the Role of Joey

Actor Louis Mandylor had a great Joey audition before Matt LeBlanc came in and nailed it. However, they brought Louis in to portray Joey’s “twin” in a memorable episode “The One with Unagi” in season six.

11. On How Often They Stay in Touch

Lisa said, “We stay in touch for sure, maybe not every day but you know, we have such a bond from having done this show and forged this very tight relationship that any time you text or call someone, they’re gonna pick up. They’ll be there.”

Host James Corden then asked, “Who doesn’t pick up the phone?’

To which Matthew jokingly replied, “I don’t hear from anyone!”

12. Monica and Chandler’s London Hookup Was Meant to Be a One Night Thing!

The fourth season finale showed Monica and Chandler hooking up in London, and the writers had planned for it only to be a one night stand. They reflected that the audience reaction was so loud and long when the reveal happened, it made them think twice about it.

13. Lady Gaga & Lisa Kudrow Duet Smelly Cat!

The clip is not online, but at one point, Lisa Kudrow and Lady Gaga duet Phoebe’s famous song “Smelly Cat!”

If you missed it, see every Friends actor’s net worth ranked from lowest to highest!