Having played TV’s favourite will-they-won’t-they couple, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer have long had fans rooting for their romance off-screen as well as on it. And, after their reunion for a cheeky Uber Eats ad at this year’s Super Bowl (above), it turns out one famous friend wants the pair to realise they’re each other’s lobster and finally make things official.
It’s been nearly three years since David, 57, made the surprising (or not) revelation that he and Jennifer, 55 – who played Ross Geller and Rachel Green in the popular sitcom – had been “crushing hard on each other” while filming the first season of Friends in 1994. They have remained real-life pals since Friends finished in 2004, and with both of them being single at the moment, we’re told their co-star Courteney Cox is urging them both to take it one step further and finally give the fans what they want – Ross and Rachel IRL.
“Jennifer and David are very close platonically, and Courteney is convinced they would make a great couple. There’s no denying they have a genuine chemistry – they’re always very flirty and they have such a long history. There are very few people who Jen trusts, but David is someone she can always rely on.”
David and Jennifer made the revelation about their missed connection during Friends: The Reunion, the 2021 special that saw the six core cast members reunite to reminisce about their time on the show. Jennifer explained that nothing physical ever happened between the pair, with David insisting, “It was like two ships passing, because one of us was always in a relationship and we never crossed that boundary.”
After the reunion, rumours began circulating that the pair were finally an item, but they were quickly shut down by David’s team. The actor split from his ex-wife Zoë Buckman, with whom he shares a daughter, Cleo, in 2017. Jennifer, meanwhile, is also single, having previously been married to Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux.
And while heat recently revealed Jen-An is looking for more of a “normal”, non-famous relationship, it seems she and David are getting a big kick out of flirting for the cameras. So, could she, like Rachel, be ready to get off the plane and commit to David?
“Jen can’t seem to catch a break in her dating life, so the feeling among a lot of their mutual friends is that she should just date David,” says our source. “Courteney is the one leading the charge on this and trying to play matchmaker, but a lot of people in Jen’s life agree. Now, it’s just a matter of getting her to open her mind and see David as more than just her buddy.”
Our source shares that the pair have grown closer in recent months following the tragic news of their co-star Matthew Perry’s death, aged 54, in October. It was news that shocked the world and his co-stars, and our insider says that David and Jen have been talking for hours at a time in the wake of the tragedy, adding, “It’s actually kind of silly that they aren’t seeing each other as a potential match.”
In the years since Friendsended, Courteney, who played David’s on-screen sister, has remained particularly close to Jen and their co-star Lisa Kudrow. After the reunion special aired, Jen insisted in an interview that nothing had ever happened between her and David, which her female co-stars could attest to. “We never, on my life,” she said, “Courteney and Lisa would know if it did, because they would’ve heard about it. They can vouch for me.”
Instead, she explained, the pair simply worked their attraction into their characters.
“The beauty of that was that whatever feelings we had we literally channelled everything into Ross and Rachel. I think that’s maybe why it resonated the way it did.”
