‘Friends’ reunion shocker: Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer had ‘major crush’ on each other, would 'spoon' on famous couch

After 17 years Friends stars Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, Courtney Cox and Lisa Kudrow are back for an emotional reunion, Friends: The Reunion, streaming on HBO Max or Crave in Canada.

The one hour and 45 minute long special is definitely nostalgic and touching, with the cast getting very emotional for much of the reunion.

Friends: The Reunion is split up into several different sections, beginning with the six ensemble cast members meeting on the set of the show where they watch bloopers and behind-the-scenes videos, and play a trivia game based on the episode "The One with the Embryos."

There is also a panel interview/discussion hosted by James Corden, a table read of some iconic Friends scenes and interviews with the show's creators.

At the core of this reunion special is the fact the Friends is beloved by so many and it is such an important aspect of popular culture. Celebrities including BTS, David Beckham, Kit Harington, Mindy Kaling and Malala Yousafzai appear to share their favourite episodes and explain why they love Friends.

Beckham, in particular, revealed that when he watches "The One Where No One's Ready" when he is away from his family it "makes [him] smile almost to the point of crying."

Several other Friends fans from around the world are shown in the reunion special, sharing how the show helped them overcome depression, illness, loneliness and other personal struggles.

There is certainly a lot of content packed into this reunion and while we'll leave some specifics for you to discover when you watch it yourself, here a few things that we learn throughout the special.

(Warning: The text below contains spoilers about the information revealed in Friends: The Reunion)

Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer were crushing on each other

Corden gets some personal gossip when he asks the cast if any of them hooked up behind the scenes over the course of the show.

Schwimmer reveals that he had a "major crush" on Aniston in the first season, with Aniston confirming the feeling was mutual. But they were were "two ships passing" because one of them was always in a relationship. Schwimmer confirmed they were respectful of each other's relationships and they "never crossed that boundary." LeBlanc pipes up and calls "bullshit," later saying it was a joke, but we'll let you decide what you think happened.

Aniston goes on to say that she remembers telling Schwimmer that it would be "such a bummer" if the first time they kissed was on the show, but that was in fact the case in the iconic scene at Central Perk, channelling their personal connection into their characters.

The rest of the Friends cast confirmed that they were all aware Aniston and Schwimmer were crushing on each other, especially when they would "spoon" on the couch when they were on set.

For anyone still wondering, the entire Friends cast is in agreement that Ross and Rachel were in fact on a break.

Matt LeBlanc got drunk and blacked out before his last audition

An interesting part of Friends: The Reunion is when the creators of the show talk about the casting process, but an especially entertaining fact is that LeBlanc had a little accident the night before his last audition to play Joey Tribbiani.

David Crane, co-creator of Friends, explained that a lot of people auditioned for the role but the lines only felt funny coming from LeBlanc. Crane's fellow co-creator, Marta Kauffman, revealed the actor had about $11 in his pocket at the time.

LeBlanc had several different auditions for the role but the night before the last one, the actor was practicing lines with a friend who came up with the brilliant idea of going to get drinks "as friends" in preparation for the role. The actor ended up drinking too much, blacking out at his friend's apartment and smashing his nose on his friend's toilet after stumbling into the bathroom.

LeBlanc said when he walked into the room to audition with a giant scab on his nose, Kauffman asked what happened and he told her the truth - but he still got the job.

The other person who was in the running to play Joey, Louis Mandylor, actually still ended up appearing on the show as Joey's fake twin in "The One With Unagi."

Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry almost weren't on Friends

Another casting debacle revealed in the reunion special is that both Aniston and Perry had committed to other projects when the creators of Friends determined they wanted to two actors to play Rachel Green and Chandler Bing.

Kauffman explained that Rachel was the hardest part to cast, with Crane specifying that the character can come across as very unlikeable if it's not played correctly. They were convinced that Aniston was the perfect person for the role but she was signed on to a show called Muddling Through, which had shot six episodes. The Friends team decided to take the risk and shared her with the other show.

Aniston revealed she went to the producer of Muddling Through and asked to be released from the project. That producer, at that time, said "that show's not going to make you a star, this shows going to make you a star."

Perry was also signed to another show called L.A.X. 2194, which Kauffman describes as an "insane" show about luggage handlers in the future at Los Angeles International Airport.

Luckily for Friends, Warner Brothers was confident that show was not going to be picked up and Perry was OK'd to head over to Friends as Chandler.

Matt LeBlanc's injury after the cast didn't do their pre-show ritual

Another LeBlanc injury was revealed in the reunion special from the episode "The One Where No One's Ready." There is one scene where Joey lunges onto a chair in an effort to get to it before Chandler. It worked out well the first three times but on the fourth take, LeBlanc's shoulder came out of its socket.

Filming ended and the actor ended up having to wear a sling, which was written into the show with the explanation that Joey fell while jumping on his bed.

When that accident happened, it was the first time the cast didn't do their pre-show huddle and LeBlanc insisted that they do it every time they were shooting moving forward, fearful that another injury would occur.

David Schwimmer did not like Marcel the monkey

Schwimmer didn't necessarily have nice things to say about his co-star on the show, the monkey who played Marcel.

The actor is still repulsed by the fact that the monkey would be fed live grub while he was on the Schwimmer's shoulder. He is also still seeming frustrated that the planned bits and gags on the show were "messed up" because the monkey didn't hit his mark.

Will there be more Friends episodes or a movie?

With reboots and subsequent movies stemming from popular TV shows like Gilmore Girls, Sex and the City, and Entourage, the questions about whether Friends fans could see a reboot in series or feature film format comes up in the reunion special.

Kudrow reveals that she hasn't thought about it because it would be in the hands of the show's creators but said she wouldn't want to see the happy endings from the finale unraveled in order to reboot the show.

When asked where they think their characters would be today, all the actors believe the couples we left in the last episode of Friends are still together with children, while LeBlanc thinks Joey opened a sandwich shop.