Jennifer Aniston dreaded 'losing' Matthew Perry for 20 years amid his addiction battle, yet his death left her devastated
'Nobody shed more tears for Matthew during the darkest points of his struggles with addiction than Jennifer,' said one of the actress' close friends
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Fans are mourning for actor Matthew Perry after he died at the age of 54. For Jennifer Aniston, who co-starred with him on 'Friends', it was a day "she had dreaded coming for 20 years."
The 'Fools Rush In' actor reportedly drowned in his hot tub on Saturday afternoon, on October 28. Sources claim that Jennifer is grieving more than anyone because she and Matthew had a strong bond of friendship with the former often checking up on him to see how he was doing.
Jennifer and her other 'Friends' co-stars shared a heartfelt statement after Matthew died.
Matthew Perry came dangerously close to death several times in his life
Following a protracted battle with drug and alcohol addiction, Matthew Perry was known to go out of his way to help others with addiction issues because he knew first-hand the struggles along the way to sobriety, including relapses.
In his memoir 'Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir', the actor talked candidly about the many times he came dangerously close to death because of his many addictions, from alcohol to Vicodin pills.
Jennifer was extremely concerned after learning about how severe Matthew's addiction really was and once, during an interview, had even started crying as she spoke about it.
As one of Jennifer's close friends put it, "Nobody shed more tears for Matthew during the darkest points of his struggles with addiction than Jennifer," as reported by Mirror.
There were rumors that Matthew wouldn't make it to the 'Friends' reunion in 2021, but Jennifer insisted that she wouldn't have gone without him. The crew was getting ready for their reunion. "He put in the work and made it a success even though he seemed frail," a source reported by DailyMail.
Jennifer thought Matthew's worst days were behind him
Jennifer believed that Matthew's worst days were behind him after he made a strong appearance in the show's reunion and appeared to have overcome his addiction.
The insider said: "But Jennifer genuinely thought his worst days were behind him. So his death just two years later has come as a bitter body blow to her."
Her friend continued: "It doesn't matter whether he died as a result of a freak accident or whether it was directly connected to his drug issues, this was a day that Jennifer has dreaded coming for 20 years. She always wanted to help Matthew any way she could – that was a constant for her."
Matthew and Jennifer frequently went out to parties together
Prior to Jennifer learning of Matthew's addiction issues, her friend reported that Matthew and Jennifer frequently went out to parties and "blew off steam" until Matthew's initial stay in a rehab center in 2001.
Jennifer then stopped inviting Matthew to parties where alcohol would be tempting when his battle with addiction got worse.
Even though they were getting less close, Jennifer's friend says she always checked in on him and had a "direct line" to the star that the other cast members didn't have.
Jennifer's friend claims that even though Matthew has an obvious crush on her, their relationship never progressed to a romantic one. They weren't ready to pursue it further "for fear it would impact their close friendship," the source told the newspaper.
It was more like a "typical brother-sister type relationship where they really watched out for each other."
Jennifer feared the day she would 'lose' Matthew
Jennifer had previously sobbed in an interview, discussing how much he feared the day she would lose him, before the news of Matthew's untimely death.
She sobbed as she said, "We didn't know. We, you know, we weren't equipped, we weren't - to deal with it. You know, nobody had ever dealt with that and, you know, the idea of even losing him."
