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Conan O’Brien has admitted to feeling “jealous” over his ex-girlfriend Lisa Kudrow’s admiration for Matthew Perry.
O’Brien, 61, and Kudrow, 60, dated for five years between 1988 and 1993.
It was not all plain-sailing during their relationship, however, with the late-night talk-show host confessing that he had felt uneasy when Kudrow started shooting the first season of Friends.
The former couple reunited on the latest episode of O’Brien’s podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.
“You started doing that show [Friends] and you called me up, and you were raving about Matthew,” O’Brien told Kudrow. “And you were saying, ‘He’s so funny,’ and there was part of me that was jealous.”
He continued: “Like, I was, ‘OK… I make you laugh pretty hard.’ And you were like, ‘No, you don’t understand. This guy’s really [funny].’”
Kudrow famously portrayed Phoebe Buffay on the popular hit sitcom, which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004.
Perry, who played the sardonic Chandler Bing, was one of Kudrow’s co-stars, alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc.
Although O’Brien had initially been jealous of his then-girlfriend’s new co-star, the comedian said he eventually came around to the same view.
“I was watching him and going, ‘Yup,’” he recalled, agreeing with Kudrow, who went on to reassure O’Brien that he is “one of the funniest people” she knows.
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Speaking about Perry’s performance as Chandler, Kudrow said: “I never even in a million years could have envisioned anyone playing the character like that. And with his own rhythm and everything, it’s his own. Impeccable timing.”
Perry died aged 54 in October 2023, leading to a flood of tributes from his fans and fellow actors, including Kudrow who recently said she started watching the show to remember him.
“After Matthew died, I could start watching the show again because it wasn’t about me. It had to do with him for some reason,” Kudrow said of Perry.
“And so I have started watching Friends. Not started like season one, but there are marathons on, and I have spent, at times, since he died, all day long watching the show.”
In his lifetime, Perry had been candid about his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, writing about his journey towards sobriety in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.
By June 2022, following 15 stints in rehab and therapy sessions, he described himself as “pretty healthy” and said he was motivated to help others struggling with addiction. He founded Perry House, a sober living facility for men, which he ran out of his old Malibu beach home from 2013 until 2015.
At the time of his death, Friends creator Marta Kauffman said he was sober. “He seemed better than I had seen in a while. I was so thrilled to see that. He was emotionally in a good place, he looked good, he quit smoking,” she told TODAY show’s Hoda Kotb in an interview after Perry’s death.
If you or someone you know is suffering from drug addiction, you can seek confidential help and support 24-7 from Frank, by calling 0300 123 6600, texting 82111, sending an email or visiting their website here.
In the US, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP.
