Friends stars Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc have paid tributes to their co-star Matthew Perry, recalling the moments they shared with the actor on the sets of the popular sitcom that ran for 10 years.

Perry, 54, breathed his last in his Los Angeles apartment on October 28.

Sharing pictures from their times on set, Matt penned an emotional note on Instagram. “Matthew, it is with a heavy heart I say goodbye. The times we had together are honestly among the favourite times of my life. It was an honour to share the stage with you and to call you my friend,” he wrote. “I will always smile when I think of you and I’ll never forget you. Never. Spread your wings and fly brother you’re finally free. Much love,” he added.

The 56-year-old actor, who played Chandler Bing’s best friend and roommate Joey Tribbiani in the sitcom, ended his note with an inside joke, saying, “And I guess you’re keeping the 20 bucks you owe me.” In the last slide, Matt shared a picture of the six stars hugging each other which was taken on their last day on set.

Courteney Cox, who played Chandler’s on-screen wife, Monica, also took to Instagram a few hours later and shared a behind-the-scenes clip of one of her favourite scenes from the show. “I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day,” she began.

“To give a little backstory, Chandler and Monica were supposed to have a one night fling in London. But because of the audience’s reaction, it became the beginning of their love story,” Courteney revealed about her on-screen relationship with Perry’s Chandler in her heartfelt note.

The actress also wrote about how Matthew whispered a funny line in her ears right before this scene in London was shot. She was reminded of his fun and kind nature. “In this scene, before we started rolling, he whispered a funny line for me to say. He often did things like that. He was funny and he was kind🤍🕊️,” Courteney concluded her note.

Friends is an American sitcom which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. It followed a group of friends navigating through the ups and downs of their lives in New York. Matthew played the witty, sarcastic, lovable and self-deprecating Chandler Bing on the show.

In 2021, the cast and showrunners reunited after more than a decade in Friends: The Reunion, which streamed on HBO Max.