25 Years Ago, Chandler Was Part Of Friends’ Most Shocking Twist Ever

Friends had many seminal moments across its 10-season run, like Ross and Rachel arguing over being “on a break,” Phoebe writing her smash hit “Smelly Cat,” and of course, “Pivot!” But perhaps nothing was more shocking than Monica and Chandler becoming a couple seemingly out of nowhere.

After Matthew Perry’s untimely death on Oct. 28, fans are reflecting on his most memorable Friends storylines, like how he was involved in what was possibly the series’ biggest plot twist.

The two-part Season 4 finale focused on Ross’ wedding to his British fiancée Emily, ending with him saying Rachel’s name at the altar instead. But that wasn’t even the biggest jaw-dropper of the episode.

On the morning of his wedding, Ross barges into Chandler’s room with excitement, cheering, “I’m getting married today! Woo!” Chandler, still lying in bed, sarcastically quips, “Morning, Ross.” But as soon as he slams the door shut, Monica unexpectedly emerges from under the covers. “Do you think he knew I was here?” she asked.

Naturally, the audience went nuts. And when the episode eventually aired, so did viewers.

When the show came back from the commercial break, the two awkwardly acknowledged their hookup and silently agreed to keep it a secret, not even having to say it out loud. Initially, this was meant to be the extent of their relationship.

In an interview with Vulture, executive producer Scott Silveri and his wife Shana Goldberg-Meehan, who co-wrote the episode, said the idea of getting Monica and Chandler together had been “kicking around” before they joined the show in Season 3.

However, Goldberg-Meehan shut it down, saying it was too early to introduce another relationship during the never-ending Ross and Rachel dynamic.

Eventually, the writers came around as the show focused less on relationships in Season 4, deciding to very subtly build up to Monica and Chandler having a one-night-stand, almost as a test run. However, the fan reaction was so huge that it altered the course of the show.

“We had to stop [taping] the show because people were screaming,” Friends creator Marta Kauffman said at the ATX Television Festival in 2015. “We thought it was going to be funny and we were going to get rid of it. Suddenly the audience told us they had been waiting for that and we had to rethink how we were going to keep going and change the relationship.”

Chandler and Monica’s tryst ended up marking the beginning of their romance, which played out across the next five seasons and quickly became the show’s most stable relationship (yes, we’re looking at you, Ross and Rachel).