Matthew Perry ‘can’t watch’ Friends reruns because of the obvious signs of his drug abuse

Five-time Emmy nominee Matthew Perry recently revealed the real reason why he never watches reruns of his hit sitcom Friends, which ran for 10 seasons on NBC spanning 1994-2004.

‘I was on Friends, getting watched by 30M people, and that’s why I can’t watch the show. I was, like, brutally thin and being beaten down so badly by the disease,’ the Massachusetts-born, Ottawa-raised 53-year-old – who just topped the NY Times bestseller list – told Q’s Tom Power on November 14.

‘I could tell season by season by how I looked, and I don’t think anybody else can, but I certainly could. That’s why I don’t want to watch it because that’s what I see – that’s what I notice when I watch it.’

Triggering bad memories: Five-time Emmy nominee Matthew Perry (R) recently revealed the real reason why he never watches reruns of his hit sitcom Friends, which ran for 10 seasons on NBC spanning 1994-2004

The Massachusetts-born, Ottawa-raised 53-year-old told Q’s Tom Power (R) on November 14: ‘I was on Friends, getting watched by 30M people, and that’s why I can’t watch the show. I was, like, brutally thin and being beaten down so badly by the disease’ 

In the past, Matthew – who kept his drug abuse a secret – has said he was on alcohol when he was overweight, pills like Vicodin when he was very thin, and even worse when he sported a goatee on the show.

Perry – whose colon burst from opioids in 2018 – was paid in the ‘mid-seven-figures’ to detail his extensive history of alcohol and drug abuse in his new 256-page tell-all.

‘Not many books have come from the side of the addict… certainly not somebody who’s been on one of their favorite shows,’ the twice-rehabbed star – who sobered up last year – explained.

Matthew admitted: ‘I could tell season by season by how I looked, and I don’t think anybody else can, but I certainly could. That’s why I don’t want to watch it because that’s what I see – that’s what I notice when I watch it’

Sobered up in 2021: In the past, Perry – who kept his drug abuse a secret – has said he was on alcohol when he was overweight, pills like Vicodin when he was very thin, and even worse when he sported a goatee on the show

‘Alcoholism did not care that I was on Friends’: The twice-rehabbed star – whose colon burst from opioids in 2018 – was paid in the ‘mid-seven-figures’ to detail his extensive history of alcohol and drug abuse in his new 256-page tell-all 

‘That message is very powerful because I thought [fame] would fix everything. And you know, it didn’t. I still wanted to drink every day.’ 

Matthew noted: ‘Alcoholism did not care that I was on Friends. Alcoholism wants you alone. It wants you sick. And then it wants to kill you.’

Perry – who received a Champion of Recovery award in 2013 for opening sober living home Perry House (which has since closed) – has also battled addictions to methadone and amphetamines.

Matthew explained: ‘Not many books have come from the side of the addict… certainly not somebody who’s been on one of their favorite shows. That message is very powerful because I thought [fame] would fix everything. And you know, it didn’t. I still wanted to drink every day’

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‘It wants to kill you’: Perry – who received a Champion of Recovery award in 2013 for opening sober living home Perry House (which has since closed) – has also battled addictions to methadone and amphetamines

‘It was an incredible ride’: The SAG Award winner – who earned an eye-popping $24M to play Chandler Bing between 2002-2003 – now believes he can finally sit down and watch Friends

The SAG Award winner – who earned an eye-popping $24M to play Chandler Bing between 2002-2003 – now believes he can finally sit down and watch Friends.

‘First of all, it was an incredible ride. But it’s been an incredible thing to watch it touch the hearts of different generations,’ Matthew said.

‘It’s become this important, significant thing. I’ve been too worried about this and I, you know, I want to watch Friends too.’

Matthew said: ‘It’s been an incredible thing to watch it touch the hearts of different generations. It’s become this important, significant thing. I’ve been too worried about this and I, you know, I want to watch Friends too’

Q&A: Perry will next bring his Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing book tour to Barnes & Noble at Los Angeles mall, The Grove, this Saturday at 11am PST

Perry will next bring his Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing book tour to Barnes & Noble at Los Angeles mall, The Grove, this Saturday at 11am PST.

The Whole Nine Yards alum’s last acting gig as conservative talking head Dan Pawketty in Adam McKay’s star-studded climate change comedy Don’t Look Up was cut from the final film before it premiered last year.

Audiences have not seen Matthew acting onscreen since he executive produced and starred as Ted Kennedy in the two-part miniseries The Kennedys: After Camelot, which aired in 2017 on Reelz.