Conan O’Brien has admitted to feeling “jealous” over his ex-girlfriend Lisa Kudrow ’s admiration for Matthew Perry . O’Brien, 61, and Kudrow, 60, dated for five years between 1988 and 1993. It was not all plain-sailing during their relationship, however, with the late-night talk-show host confessing that he had felt uneasy when Kudrow started shooting the first season of Friends .
The former couple reunited on the latest episode of O’Brien’s podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend . “You started doing that show [ Friends ] and you called me up, and you were raving about Matthew,” O’Brien told Kudrow. “And you were saying, ‘He’s so funny,’ and there was part of me that was jealous.
” He continued: “Like, I was, ‘OK...
I make you laugh pretty hard.’ And you were like, ‘No, you don’t understand. This guy’s really [funny].
’” Kudrow famously portrayed Phoebe Buffay on the popular hit sitcom, which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. Perry, who played the sardonic Chandler Bing, was one of Kudrow’s co-stars, alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc. Although O’Brien had initially been jealous of his then-girlfriend’s new co-star, the comedian said he eventually came around to the same view.
“I was watching him and going, ‘Yup,’” he recalled, agreeing with Kudrow, who went on to reassure O’Brien that he is “one of the funniest people” she knows. Speaking about Perry’s performance .