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I'll be there for you …
No prizes for guessing the theme song this line is from. It’s the earworm or earworms, the feel-good tune to a show that’s as comforting as a cup of hot chocolate on a chilly evening
And if there’s anyone it really speaks to, it’s Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox.
“We’ve been through so many things together,” Jennifer says. “The show taught us the importance of camaraderie and really sticking together. And it’s taught me about being there for each other – I know, that’s the song, I’ll be there for you. But it’s true.”
READ MORE | Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow support Courteney Cox as she gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
The pair met on the set of Friends and became besties for life – and this was evident yet again when Jen teared up as she watched Courteney receive her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame recently.
“To be friends with Courteney is to be family with Courteney,” the 54-year-old star said in an emotional speech. “She’s responsible for all of that. From the beginning of Friends, she was immediately inclusive, warm, loving, interested in everything about you.”
Courteney (58) was teary-eyed too. “Thank you for showing up for me in public, the way you so often do in private,” she said.
Things have changed a lot since their Rachel and Monica days. Hearts have been broken, fortunes have been made, a child has been born and grown up, dreams have been dashed – but their friendship is as enduring and endearing as that twinkling tune that kicked off a sitcom sensation.
THEY'VE WORKED TOGETHER . . .
When they started out on Friends in 1994 there was an instant connection.
“We fell in love with each other and wanted to hang out,” Jennifer says.
They ate lunch together every day during the show’s 10-year run, even adopting each other’s eating habits. Courteney says she and Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe, started eating what they called “the Jennifer” – a cobb salad with turkey bacon and garbanzo beans.
“Friends made us inseparable,” Courteney says. “We just have fun, we laugh and it’s great.”
. . . AND THEY PLAY TOGETHER
In their Friends days, Jen and Court took their friendship away from the cameras too and they still hang out. A lot.
Over the years they’ve shown up at Hollywood shindigs together or have been spotted on a girls’ night out on the town. They also enjoy many a lazy Sunday lunch at each other’s luxury pads in Los Angeles.
But the ultimate sign of their tight bond is that they often go on holiday together, usually to their favourite destination - Cabo San Lucas, the playground of the rich and famous on the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico.
THEY'VE HELPED EACH OTHER NAVIGATE DIVORCE
Much like Monica and Rachel, who were there for each other through countless break-ups, the two have been each other’s rock when their marriages fell apart.
When Jen parted ways with Brad Pitt in 2005, it was Courteney who offered her a shoulder to cry on and a spare bed if she needed it.
“I’ve slept in her guest bedroom a lot,” Jennifer said in an interview in 2014. “Without giving away too much of my private stuff, all I can say is she’s been there for me through thick and thin.”
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When Courteney and actor David Arquette split in 2011 after 14 years of marriage, Jen offered her much-needed comfort.
“A lot of really close friends are kind of going through this right now or, like Jennifer, have gone through it,” Courteney said at the time. “Things are shaken up and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but Jennifer has been amazing for sure.”
She was there for Jen again when she split from husband No 2, Justin Theroux, in February 2018. To help get her mind off things, Courteney threw Jen a birthday party before the news went public.
“Of all her friends, Jen leant on Courteney the most in the wake of the split,” a source told E! News. “Courteney's been at her house many times and she’s been by her side through it all.”
They have starring roles at each other’s weddings
Both leading ladies were guests at each other’s first weddings – but when Jen wed Justin in 2015, she upped the ante and made Courteney her maid of honour.
READ MORE | Fed-up with fillers and bored of Botox: why Courteney Cox is ditching plastic surgery
The ceremony itself was a hush-hush, star-studded affair held in the backyard of her Bel-Air home – and like a true bestie, Courteney was the last to leave at around 3am.
And she wants Jen front and centre at her second wedding too. She’s apparently asked her friend to be her maid of honour when she eventually walks down the aisle with Irish rocker, Johnny McDaid (47), who she’s engaged to.
THEY HELP EACH OTHER OUT IN HOLLYWOOD
After Friends ended, Courteney got her friend work in two of her shows. In 2007, Jennifer appeared in her series Dirt as a rival magazine editor who ends up in a steamy kiss with Courteney’s character.
The two teamed up again in 2010’s Cougar Town, Courteney’s sitcom, which she starred in and co-produced. Jen appeared in season two as a therapist for Courteney’s character Jules, a divorced single mom.
THEY’RE FAMILY FRIENDS TOO
When Courteney had her only child, Coco, 18 years ago, she asked Jennifer to be her baby’s godmother – and Jennifer rose to the occasion.
She and Coco are close and spend plenty of time together and the teen was seen resting her head on her godmother’s shoulder during Courteney’s Walk of Fame ceremony.
Jen has been vocal in her praise of the teenager’s recent foray into singing, liking and commenting on her videos on social media, which usually feature Courteney playing the piano.
When Coco turned 17, Jen shared an adorable throwback photo featuring herself holding Coco in her arms. “Happy birthday my sweet Cocolicious,” she said. “Godmama loves you.”
READ MORE | ‘Stop judging me for not having kids’: Jennifer Aniston on the pressures she’s faced for not having children
Before Courteney fell pregnant she was open about her fertility issues, which saw her undergoing IVF after much heartbreak
“I had a lot of miscarriages and I don’t think that’s something people shouldn’t talk about because – well, it was unfortunate, but it happens.”
When Jen struggled with her own secret fertility issues, Courteney was there to support her. “She’s just always there,” Jennifer says. “She’s the one constant in my life.”
Sources: variety.com, screenrant.com, eonline.com, pagesix.com, cosmopolitan.com, hellomagazine.com, dailymail.co.uk, marieclaire.co.uk
