Matt LeBlanc
Matt LeBlanc, photographed at the TCA party for CBS, the CW, and Showtime in Hollywood, California on Aug. 10, 2016, reveals he and “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry have stayed close since the show ended. Getty Images

It’s been more than a decade since America’s favorite “Friends” went off the air, but that hasn’t stopped certain members of the cast from staying close.

After NBC aired the final episode on May 6, 2004, Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) and Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani) maintained their on-screen friendship in real life. During the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles on Wednesday, LeBlanc — who is gearing up for the premiere of new CBS show “Man With a Plan” — revealed to those in attendance that he sees Perry, 46, often, though it is largely due to the fact that they work on the same network. He revealed that he had just seen the “Odd Couple” star, adding that they have an unbreakable bond.

“I could not see him for five years, and then put me in a room with him, and it will be like I saw him yesterday. We still have this shorthands with one another. It’s amazing, really. Ten years in a building with no windows, with the door locked, we got to know each other pretty well,” LeBlanc said (via Us Weekly).

LeBlanc, who has starred in a number of shows since his days on “Friends,” then clarified that he loves each of his former co-stars — Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), David Schwimmer (Ross Geller), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), and Courteney Cox (Monica Geller) — and tries to spend as much time as possible with them.

Their close bond does not, however, mean “Friends” fans will ever get the reunion they’ve been seeking for years. For a short time, however, there was a way for fans to get their fix. In March, Buzzfeed sat down with writer and director Eli Golden to discuss his most recent project at the time — an unauthorized “Friends” musical called “Friends: The One Where They Sing.” The play had not yet premiered when the interview took place, but Golden was anticipating success. He told Buzzfeed that the show “means a lot to him,” assuring that the performance would do the show justice when it premiered this summer. “Friends: the One Where They Sing” ran from June 10 to July 29.

“I am a huge lover of musicals and really wanted to tell a great story while staying true to the source material. This is a musical for fans by the fans, both of ‘Friends’ and musicals in general,” Golden said. “Between the cast, the band, and production team, we have stacked this show with funny and talented people, and that atmosphere is infectious.”

The unauthorized “Friends” musical was announced just months after a disappointing reunion of the show’s cast. Five of the six stars gathered to celebrate director James Burrows for “Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute To James Burrows.” Perry was the only cast member unable to attend as he was working on a project in Europe at the time.

RELATED STORIES