‘Friends’: Jennifer Aniston Welcomes Matthew Perry to Instagram With Fan-Favorite Throwback

Former Friends star Matthew Perry finally joined Instagram on Friday and got a touching welcome message from former co-star Jennifer Aniston. Even she was surprised that it took her real-life friend so long to finally join the social media platform. Perry joined Instagram just hours after a fresh report on a planned Friends reunion special surfaced.

On Friday, Perry inaugurated his Instagram page by sharing a GIF of his Friends character Chandler Bing celebrating. “This is how thrilled I am to finally be on Instagram. So, here we go…” he wrote in the caption.

In the first two hours since the GIF was posted, it has been viewed more than 2.1 million times and garnered more than 66,000 comments. Perry’s account racked up 3.5 million followers along the way.

After spotting Perry’s account, Aniston celebrated by sharing an old photo of the two together, along with a clip from Friends where her character Rachel Green had to guess what Chandler’s job is.

“I’m shocked Matty is the last to join Instagram, considering he was a uh… umm….oh crap,” Aniston wrote. “Oh! A computer processing TRANSPONSTER.”

“Hahahaha!!!” Courteney Cox commented on the post.

“Welcome Matthew!!!!” Rita Wilson added.

“Literally my two favourite friends + fav episode,” one fan wrote.

Perry is only following 21 Instagram users, including Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Cox and David Schwimmer. Other celebrities to earn a follow from Perry include Reese Witherspoon, Hank Azaria, Kate Hudson and Robert Downey Jr.

If it turns out the Instagram account was the “big news coming” Perry teased on Twitter earlier this week, Friends fans will be disappointed. After all, fans have long been hoping a reunion could happen, and it seems entirely possible now.

On Thursday, Deadline reported that WarnerMedia is looking to shell out $3 million to $4 million each to the Friends cast to get them to star in a one-hour special to help launch the HBO Max streaming service. The outlet reported the six stars have agreed to the deal “in principle.” WarnerMedia has not officially announced the project though.

WarnerMedia already paid $425 million to make HBO Max the exclusive streaming home for Friends. The beloved series left Netflix earlier this year and will not be available to stream again until HBO Max launches.

Friends recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. The series debuted on NBC in September 1994 and ran 10 seasons. It was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, who are expected to participate in the reunion special.

Photo credit: Ron Davis/Getty Images