10 Ways Friends Was Almost Completely Different

3. The Joey And Phoebe Reveal That Never Happened

Friends Joey Phoebe Kiss
WB

Near-enough every single character kissed every other character during Friends' run. Heck, Monica and Chandler ended up married, and many assume that Ross and Rachel's on-off relationship ended similarly in marriage and a 'happy ever after'.

The two main characters left out of all of this, of course, are Joey and Phoebe.

In what could've been a genius twist with the ultimate long-time storyline payoff, there was nearly the reveal that Joey and Phoebe had actually been hooking up throughout Friends' entire ten seasons.

As Joey actor Matt LeBlanc detailed to Entertainment Weekly back in 2016:

"Toward the end, we actually pitched the idea that Joey and Phoebe had been having casual sex the entire time. We'd go back and shoot all the historical scenes, and just before a moment that everyone recognizes, there's Joey and Phoebe coming out of a broom closet together."

Ultimately, the decision was made not to go down this route, but it's an idea that sounds like it could've been all kinds of fun to see playout. Then again, if that was to happen, chances are we may not have got the brilliant couple of Phoebe and Paul Rudd's Mike.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.