Courteney Cox Recreates ‘Friends’ Routine With Ed Sheeran — The Reason She Didn’t Do It At The Reunion

May 31, 2021 by apost team

Fans of the hit American sitcom "Friends" had something to be excited about again after the show's departure over 17 years ago in 2004. On May 27, HBO Max premiered "Friends: The Reunion: The One Where They Get Back Together," an unscripted special that saw the main cast reunite on set to reminisce about the show together, test their knowledge of the show with a trivia game, sit down in an interview with James Corden and re-read their lines more than a decade after the show's finale.

As one of the most popular television shows of all time, "Friends" won countless awards, accolades and fans over the show's 10-year run from 1994 to 2004. On paper, the show might seem rather ordinary. As its name suggests, the show revolved around a group of six friends — Rachel Green (Jennifer Anniston), Monica Geller (Courtney Cox), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) and Ross Geller (David Schimmer) — as they live life as young adults in New York City. The show followed the ensemble cast as they dated each other, moved in together and furthered their careers in Manhattan.

Given the show's incredible success and long-lasting legacy, the reunion, which was originally set to air in 2020, came as a pleasant surprise for fans of the show. After all, this was the first time most "Friends" fanatics were able to see this group of six together in more than a decade.

Now, Courteney Cox has recreated the New Year's Eve dance routine with singer Ed Sheeran. Read on to learn more about the dance recreation and why Courteney didn't do it on the reunion special. 

Not only is "Friends" the highest-rated television show of all time, but it also aired one of the most-watched television episodes in history: the series finale, which attracted 52.5 million viewers. To say the least, that means that the NBC show has its fair share of fans. And at the end of May, those fans were pleased with a reunion special.

The May 27 reunion special featured all six cast members for the first time in years. They revisited a recreated "Friends" set on Stage 24 at Warner Bros. Studios, including Monica and Rachel's apartment, the Central Perk cafe and Joey and Chandler's pad.

"I was flooded with 10 years of irreplaceable memories," a 56-year-old Cox told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview ahead of the show's premiere.

HBO Max released an official trailer (below) of the reunion special on Wednesday, which showed never-before-seen moments from Thursday's premiere. Viewers saw the cast participate in a trivia game (harkening back to an episode from season 4), reunited in front of the fountain featured in the show's opening credits, and opening up to interviewer James Corden.

The show also included a number of celebrity superfans and special guests, from musical acts like BTS and Justin Bieber to actors like Kit Harington and Mindy Kaling.

"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, HBO Max's chief content officer, announced in a statement.

apost.com

On Sunday, May 30, Courteney Cox shared a video of her doing the iconic 'Friends' New Year's Eve dance with not her original partner David Schwimmer but instead singer Ed Sheeran. The caption read:

"Just some routine dancing with a friend, #ReRoutine."

The iconic Ross and Monica dance number was something that many fans were hoping would be performing again during the 'Friends' reunion, but it didn't occur. However, director Ben Winston did try and get the cast to perform it. 

"They just couldn't remember it. I don't think they wanted to dance in front of that studio. They're like, 'Don't make us dance in front of a crowd of people,'" the director said on the Friday, May 28, episode of The Hollywood Reporter's "TV's Top 5" podcast. "It's one thing doing it when you're playing Ross and Monica. It's another thing when everybody's sitting there, like, staring." 

The dance was initially featured during a season 6 episode in 1999.

Winston continued to talk about the reunion, as he said:

"Both of them were like, 'Oh, please don't make us do that.' You've got to pick what you want to push. There were certain things I really cared for, like the table read or the quiz. … I also couldn't work out where it would have worked. I'm not sure it would have landed 20 years later. But it was definitely on my list of ideas that I pitched."

Cox and singer Ed Sheeran have known each other for years, and Sheeran even introduced Cox to her current fiancé, Johnny McDaid. In a 2014 interview with Daily Mail, Sheeran said:

"I think I did the 'Courteney meet Johnny, Johnny meet Courteney' thing. But Sacha Baron Cohen did the matchmaking. It's just two people who fell in love and I hope they're really happy."

What do you think about the dance recreation with Cox and Sheeran? Did you watch the 'Friends' reunion? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to pass this on to your loved ones!