[imagesource: Metro / Rex/ Getty]

Earlier this year, the stars of Friends came together once more for Friends: The Reunion.

It hasn’t been easy to get Monica (Courteney Cox), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Joey (Matt LeBlanc), Ross (David Schwimmer), and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) in the same room over the years.

The reunion came with a few memorable moments and revelations, Matt LeBlanc became a major meme in Ireland, and people seemed genuinely concerned about the health of Matthew Perry.

Alongside the main cast, some of the show’s other most loved characters also made appearances, including James Michael Tyler, best known as Gunther, the manager of Central Perk.

Gunther is credited with appearances in a total of 185 episodes, the most of any character aside from the big six.

As the BBC points out, it’s a testament to Tyler’s importance to the show that he was the only star who was allowed to appear via Zoom, rather than in person.

At the time, it wasn’t public knowledge that Tyler had stage four prostate cancer, although he did reveal his diagnosis in an interview in June.

Tyler died on Sunday at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 59, and tributes soon poured in from around the world.

The best place we can start is to unpack the ‘love story’ between Gunther and Rachel:

Sometimes his love for her slipped out in his speech. At other times, we heard his inner monologue as a voiceover. Either way, the poor barista could never seem to catch a break…

As Friends inched towards its end, Gunther finally plucked up the courage to confess his feelings for Rachel before she was due to leave for Paris.

Gunther told her: “I know you’re leaving tonight, but I just have to tell you. I love you. I… I don’t know if that changes your plans at all? But I thought you should know.”

Becoming emotional, Rachel replied: “Gunther. Oh, I love you too. Probably not in the same way, but I do. And when I’m in a café, having coffee, or I see a man with hair brighter than the sun, I’ll think of you.”

This mashup just about sums up their journey:

To finish, here’s a compilation featuring 10 great Gunther moments:

[source:bbc]