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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Ayeesha Walsh

Matthew Perry almost missed Friends reunion after undergoing emergency surgery

Matthew Perry almost missed the Friends reunion episode because he had to undergo emergency surgery.

The 53-year-old actor was left in a desperate situation just days before the episode was due to be filmed when he had a medical emergency relating to his teeth.

He had been settling down to enjoy some peanut butter on toast when his top teeth dropped out upon biting into the healthy snack.

The Chandler Bing actor then had to rush to see a dentist for an emergency procedure - carrying the missing gnashers with him in a bag.

Matthew Perry has admitted that he almost missed filming the Friends reunion (Getty Images Europe)

Talking to Nightline to promote his new memoirs Friends, Lovers and The Big Terrible Thing, Matthew admitted that the surgery made his "mouth feel like fire," as he struggled to get well for the reunion show.

He told Diane Sawyer. "I couldn’t not show up. So, what I chose to do was just go and do the best that I could."

His appearance on the April 2021 show then sparked concerns from fans about his health due to the unknown ordeal.

He noted: "It sounded like my voice was off."

Matthew was joined by his former co-stars for the reunion show (CBS via Getty Images)

Matthew - who played loveable rascal Chandler Bing for the entire 10 season run of Friends - had been sober for 18 months at the time of the special recording.

Now another 18 months on - meaning he is three-years sober - he says he finally feels like he has a hold over his addiction problem.

He admitted: "Now I finally feel okay and feel like I've got some strength."

Matthew has battled a Vicodin and alcohol addiction for years with the actor previously admitting he barely remembers filming seasons three to six of the iconic sitcom.

Matthew left fans concerned with his slurred speech on the reunion show (HBO)

He has estimated that fighting his addiction has cost him $ 9 million and he has attended 6,000 AA meetings and spent 15 stints in rehab.

Matthew told Diane that he hopes telling his story will help other people in the same position to overcome their own addictions.

He said: "For some reason, it's obviously because I was on Friends, more people will listen to me, so I've got to take advantage of that, I've got to help as many people as I can."

The talented star recently admitted that he was spurred on to get clean once and for all when he almost died in 2018 after his colon burst due to overuse of opioids leaving him in a coma.

Matthew has previously thanks his co-stars for their help (HBO)

Matthew has already praised his Friends co-stars for helping him to get through the down points in his life, supporting him during filming for the iconic NBC sitcom, which ran for 10 seasons between 1994 - 2004.

He praised co-stars Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Courteney Cox as Monica Gellar, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, David Schwimmer as Ross Gellar and Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani for helping him and sticking by him as he struggled to survive.

Matthew said: "They were understanding, and they were patient. It's like penguins. In nature, when one is sick or very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up and walk around until that penguin can walk on its own. And that's kind of what the cast did for me."

Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing is available November 1.

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