Friends reunion: Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow lead celebrity reactions to hit show's return

Witherspoon guest-starred as Rachel's spoilt sister on the hit sitcom

Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laura Dern are among the celebrities reacting to the news that the Friends cast will get back together in an official reunion.

David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, and Matthew Perry will all return for the one-off HBO special.

The programme has been described as an unscripted special during which all six stars will return to Stage 24, the sitcom’s original soundstage on the Warner Bros studio lot in Burbank, California.

Witherspoon, who guest-starred as Rachel’s spoilt sister, Jill, in the hit sitcom, wrote in a response to Jennifer Aniston’s post about the news: “HOLY COW!!!”

Witherspoon added: “This is EPIC. WHAT???!!! This is the greatest news Ever!!! Beyond excited.”

Paltrow commented: “NO F***ING WAYYYYYYYY,” while Laura Dern borrowed one of character Joey Tribbiani’s famous catchphrases: “Yeah, baby!”

Singer Charlie Puth was pure emotion as he wrote, ‘Crying’ and comedian Billy Eichner wrote: “There better be a SINGLE GUY reunion too or I’M NOT INTERESTED.”

Elizabeth Banks wrote: “Woah” while comedian Celeste Barber announced: “Nothing will ever be the same again!”

Other celebrities to express their excitement include Akwafina, Michelle Pfieffer and Modern Family star Sarah Hyland.

HBO Max broke the news on 21 February. The reunion special will be available when the streaming platform launches in May.

“Guess you could call this the one where they all got back together — we are reuniting with David, Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, Lisa, and Matthew for an HBO Max special that will be programmed alongside the entire Friends library,” Kevin Reilly, chief content officer at HBO Max, said.

“I became aware of Friends when it was in the very early stages of development and then had the opportunity to work on the series many years later and have delighted in seeing it catch on with viewers generation after generation. It taps into an era when friends – and audiences – gathered together in real time and we think this reunion special will capture that spirit, uniting original and new fans.”

See our ranking of every Friends episode here.