Jennifer Aniston Once Revealed She 'Got a Divorce and Went into Therapy' When ‘Friends’ Ended

Jennifer Aniston dealt with painful endings in 2004—her marriage with Brad Pitt was crumbling and she was bidding farewell to her much-appreciated and loved character, Rachel Green after 10 years of the iconic sitcom, Friends. Aniston opened up about dealing with 'burning the bridges' on the final episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2022.

"Well, I got a divorce and went into therapy," the Murder Mystery actress reminisced, while also laughing about how she dealt with the end of Friends. "Then I did a movie called The Breakup. I just kind of leaned into the end. I was like, 'You know what, guys? Let's just make this a completely new chapter. Let's end everything and start new. It worked great," Aniston shared with the host, DeGeneres back then. 

According to Entertainment Weekly, DeGeneres and Aniston have been close friends for a long time, and appearing as the first guest on DeGeneres' last show in 2022 was a full-circle moment for the Emmy-winning actress. Aniston was the first guest on the inaugural episode back when the show debuted in September 2003.

The We're the Millers actress found filming the last episode with DeGeneres "bizarrely sad," per People. "I did the show at the beginning of the year and I was really emotional then, and I kind of was like, 'I can't do that on the last show. I'm going to really lose it," continued Aniston. 

During the series finale, Aniston and DeGeneres shared some crazy memories including their controversial 03 outfits and their epic discussion about whether toilet paper should be installed to roll out under or over. The Friends actress then presented DeGeneres with a special parting gift—a "Thanks for the Memories" welcome mat as an ode to the mat she had given DeGeneres during their first on-air conversation. DeGeneres had joked about it, saying, "I am actually taking that home today, I don't know where the welcome mat went."  Aniston had appeared multiple times throughout the show's 19-season run. 

Before filming the last segment, The Morning Show host requested to meet DeGeneres backstage one final time to come to terms with the end of the show. "Even though the world was there before Ellen and now it'll be there after, she was such a source of entertainment and love and joy and laughter for people. It's sad. I don't understand what's going to fill it." 

Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 4, 2023. It has since been updated.