Jennifer Aniston is said to have “dreaded” her Friends co-star Matthew Perry’s death for “20 years” before his untimely passing aged 54.
The actor was found unresponsive in his hot tub last Saturday (October 28) after a suspected drowning, though his official cause of death has yet to be released. Initial autopsy reports revealed no fentanyl or meth in his system, and no narcotics were found during a sweep of his home.
His Friends co-stars, including Jennifer, came together to bid their final farewell at his funeral on Friday (November 3).
Matthew was candid about his addiction to alcohol and drugs, and opened up on narrow escapes from death in his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. He was once given just a 2% chance of survival after slipping into a coma.
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But according to a close friend of Jennifer, the actress has “shed tears” for her friend at numerous points throughout their shared careers. They claimed: “Nobody shed more tears for Matthew during the darkest points of his struggles with addiction than Jennifer.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Now a source has said: “Jennifer genuinely thought his worst days were behind him. So his death just two years later has come as a bitter body blow to her. It doesn’t matter whether he died as a result of a freak accident or whether it was directly connected to his drug issues, this was a day that Jennifer has dreaded coming for 20 years. She always wanted to help Matthew any way she could – that was a constant for her.”
Matthew opened up about his feelings for Jennifer during the early seasons of Friends, admitting he was “crushing” on her and even asked her on a date – but got rejected. Jen was the first person Matthew called when he landed the role as Chandler, which was a “bad idea” – compounded by the fact that he later asked her on a date. He penned: “I could feel ice forming through the phone. Looking back, it was clear that this made her think I liked her too much or in the wrong kind of way.
(Image: NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
“She declined [a date] (which made it very difficult to actually go out with her), but said that she’d love to be friends with me, and I compounded the compound by blurting, ‘We can’t be friends!’”
He was still “crushing” on Jen in the early seasons, admitting: “Our hellos and goodbyes became awkward. And then I’d ask myself, how long can I look at her? Is three seconds too long? But that shadow disappeared in the hot glow of the show. (That, and her deafening lack of interest.)”
(Image: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
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She even offered a four-word warning that “saved Matthew’s life” in the past. He admitted: “Jennifer was the one that reached out the most. I’m really grateful to her for that,” he confessed. And the words she shared? “We know you’re drinking.”
Matthew said he never worked drunk and asked Jennifer: “How can you tell?” She then replied: “I can smell it.” The star said he only ever worked hungover, never high or drunk, and his co-stars helped to “prop him up”. He wrote in his memoir: “I was the injured penguin, but I was determined to not let these wonderful people, and this show, down.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
