“Friends” was one of the most critically acclaimed sitcoms that aired in the ’90s. The iconic television sitcom landscape has changed ever since its release.

The show, which went down as one of the most popular television series in American history, has won countless awards, accolades and fans over the show’s 10-year run from 1994 to 2004.

On paper, the show might seem rather ordinary.

As its name suggests, the show revolves around a group of six friends — Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribbiani, Chandler Bing and Ross Geller— as they live life as young adults in New York City.

The show follows the ensemble cast as they date each other, move in together and further their careers in Manhattan.

The show was highly acclaimed and often featured on the highest-ranked TV series of all time lists. It also aired one of the most-watched television episodes in history: the series finale, which attracted 52.5 million viewers. To say the least, that means the NBC show has its fair share of fans.

On May 27, 2021, the hit show returned for a one-time television special, “Friends: The Reunion,” which aired on HBO Max. The show saw the reunion of the much-beloved gang sitting together again on the iconic orange sofa in front of the equally iconic fountain.

As the younger generation discovers “Friends,” many cannot help but get engrossed in Aniston and Schwimmer’s characters’ on-and-off on-screen love story, which led many to believe in real life that it was actually true. In an interview with Aniston in March 2023, Aniston confirmed a longstanding rumor that got everyone feeling giddy. Read on to learn more about Aniston and Schwimmer’s relationship throughout the years and what the rumor was about!

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Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer (2000), (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc via Getty Images)

The 2021 reunion special featured all six cast members for the first time in years. They revisited a recreated “Friends” set on Stage 24 at Warner Bros. Studios, including Monica and Rachel’s apartment, the Central Perk cafe and Joey and Chandler’s pad.

“I was flooded with 10 years of irreplaceable memories,” Courteney Cox told People Magazine in an exclusive interview ahead of the show’s premiere.

Aniston described on Gayle King’s radio show the feeling of coming back to the same set she had filmed on after 17 years as jarring.

“It was a sucker punch in the heart in a way. It was for all of us, I think. Even Courteney (Cox) we got tears out of,” she said at the time, as quoted by People Magazine.

Almost all of the previous cast members underestimated the emotions that would come flooding back after seeing the studio involved in making the series that aired from 1994 to 2004; the group was instantly overwhelmed with emotion and memories.

“We romanticized it, but you also have to remember we haven’t been there (since the series finale). And that time was a very specific time, when we were saying goodbye to something that we didn’t want to, we cared deeply about, but we knew it was the time to say goodbye. Our lives were ahead of us. We had our future ahead of us,” Aniston furthered.

Despite the show being released decades ago, a new generation of TV viewers has only discovered the sitcom in the 2020s. Many have grown fonder of the characters when they binge-watched the series during the 2020 pandemic.

Like those fans who experienced it before, many were smitten by how Aniston and Schwimmer’s on-screen romance seemed to feel real.

David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston (1996), (Hulton Archive via Getty Images)

During the reunion, Aniston and Schwimmer opened up about the fact that they had a crush on each other during the first season of the show.

“The first season I had a major crush on Jen,” Schwimmer revealed according to Entertainment Weekly, and Aniston added, “It was reciprocated.”

Schwimmer went on to add: “At some point we were both crushing hard on each other, but it was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship and we never crossed that boundary. We respected that.”

Almost two years after the reunion episode, Aniston talked about the romance she shared with Schwimmer back then, in detail on “Live With Kelly and Ryan.”

“We just let it play out on TV,” she went on to reveal. Asked about their kiss by Ryan Seacrest, Aniston admitted that it was “quite enjoyable actually.”

“Sure enough, the first time we kissed was in that coffee shop, so we just channeled all of our love and adoration for each other into Ross and Rachel,” Aniston told Kelly Ripa.

Aniston and Schwimmer’s crush on each other continued throughout their time on “Friends,” and according to Entertainment Weekly, LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribbiani, said that everyone on the set already knew about the crush. Cox added that it was prudent that it did not turn into anything serious in real life as it would complicate everything if the couple ended up breaking up while filming.

Speaking to Howard Stern in 2021, Aniston clarified that if she and Schwimmer had pursued a relationship back then, it might not have materialized.

“We were in relationships, it was always never the right time, and it wouldn’t have worked,” told Stern.