Friends' Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer almost ended up as real-life Rachel-Ross (& they were "crushing on each other" during initial days)

Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) redefined the will-they-won't-they romance on television in the hit '90s sitcom Friends.

Their adorable and complicated love story saw many twists and turns throughout the show's ten seasons, concluding in a happy ending after Rachel sacrifices her job in Paris and decides to stay with Ross in New York.

While Ross and Rachel became a beloved sitcom couple, a real-life romance was also budding between co-stars David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston as they revealed during the sitcom's reunion on HBO.

Both the co-actors revealed that they were crushing hard on each other during the filming of the initial seasons, but could not explore this chemistry because they were always in different relationships and did not have the right timing.

More on Schwimmer and Aniston's real-life chemistry in Friends in our story.

When Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer opened up about their feelings for each other

Even after Friends concluded almost two decades ago, the sitcom's cast is very close. They keep popping up on each other's social media accounts and even support their upcoming projects.

The core six members even had a special reunion on HBO titled Friends: The One Where They Got Back Together, where many behind-the-scenes secrets and anecdotes were spilled.

One of the secrets spilled that made every Ross-Rachel fan happy was that co-stars Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer actually had feelings for one another. During one segment, when host James Corden asked the gang about real-life romances, Schwimmer and Aniston finally spilled the secret.

Reminiscent of the early days of Friends and his crush on Aniston, David Schwimmer said:

“The first season I had a major crush on Jen.''

After Jennifer Aniston also confirmed her mutual feelings, Schwimmer added:

“At some point we were both crushing hard on each other, but it was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship. And we never crossed that boundary. We respected that.”

Looking back at Ross and Rachel's electrifying chemistry throughout the show's ten seasons, Schwimmer's revelation is not surprising.

However, the fans were bummed to learn that the co-actors never acted out on their feelings for one another and their off-screen relationship also had a similar trajectory to their on-screen relationship in the initial seasons.

Just like Ross and Rachel were in love with each other but were always kept apart due to different relationships in their life, Schwimmer and Aniston also could not explore their chemistry because they never got the timing right.

In a 2023 interview with Kelly Ripa on Live With Kelly & Mark, Aniston again confirmed her feelings for Schwimmer and revealed that they channeled it into Ross and Rachel in Friends:

“We just let it play out on TV.''

Talking about their first kiss on the sitcom, she added:

"Sure enough, the first time we kissed was in that coffee shop. So, we just channelled all of our love and adoration for each other into Ross and Rachel.''

Many years later, their mutual attraction became an exciting anecdote and their confirmation just led fans wondering what could have been.

Considering Aniston and Schwimmer's respect and affection for each other, even after so many years, it is clear that the two actors surely had strong feelings and would have been a power couple, had they acted on their feelings then.

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Also Read: These 3 abandoned (and lesser-known) Friends storylines would have changed the course of the sitcom

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