During the 30th anniversary of Friends last year, show writer Adam Chase told The Guardian that two members of the sitcom friend group would have dated if the cast members had not vehemently opposed. The controversial duo did get together briefly, but their brewing romance was met with resistance from offended fans, which was the showrunner’s cue to nip it in the bud.
Other storylines have been refused by the castmates, including one where Matthew Perry’s character Chandler Bing cheats on Courteney Cox’s Monica Geller. Lisa Cash was meant to play Bing’s extra lover in season five’s “The One In Vegas: Part One,” but the plot was changed, and Lisa simply portrayed a flight attendant.
What was the controversial romance on the ‘Friends’ show?
Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel and Matt LeBlanc’s Joey Tribbiani had a brewing romance at the end of season nine, and it continued into the early episodes of season ten. Adam recalled how the Friends cast protested the storyline, noting that it felt incestuous that Rachel and Joey would have a thing.
The controversial pair went back to being friends, and as usual, Rachel got back with her on-and-off boyfriend Ross Geller, played by David Schwimmer, but for good that time. Rachel is about to get on a plane to Paris, and David does the classic race to her, professing love and making her stay.
Another rejected ‘Friends’ plot
Lisa’s hotel worker character was intended to sway the picture-perfect relationship between Chandler and Monica while they were in Las Vegas. The plan was that the couple would argue about Monica having lunch with her ex-boyfriend Richard, played by Tom Selleck, and then Chandler cheats.
Although Chandler would not have premeditated being unfaithful, he was meant to order room service, thereby meeting Lisa and falling for her after a long chat. The idea got scraped in order to protect Chandler’s likeability among fans, who would not have forgiven him for hurting their beloved Monica.