'Friends' cast cried when they returned to set of Monica's flat after 15 years

Watch: Friends cast give first interview ahead of reunion special

Courteney Cox has admitted she and the cast of Friends burst into tears when they returned to the set of Monica's flat to film the upcoming reunion special.

The 56-year-old actress joined Jennifer Anistion, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer to discuss reuniting to look back at their time on the hit US TV sitcom which ended after 10 series in 2004.

Cox told Good Morning America: "I don't think they - the - any of us had any idea how emotional we would be when we walked onto the set.

"To see it exactly the way it was, the - literally besides the cookie jar that Lisa took home and the neon coffee thing that Jen took. Besides that, it was exactly the same. And it was so emotional that we just started crying."

Read more: 'Friends' reunion special: How to watch the episode in the UK

Perry, 51, added: "Reuniting this cast again - I knew it was gonna be a really seriously emotional experience. And it has been."

Meanwhile Kudrow, 57, confessed: "Truth is, I didn't cry walking out onto the set. And now I can't stop."

Aniston, 52, agreed: "Floodgates open."

The reunion had been due to take place 2020, to mark the 25th anniversary of the start of Friends, but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Schwimmer, 54, said: "We wanted to do it a year ago to give back to all of the fans especially in the dark times we were all experiencing. Hopefully a year later, people will still enjoy it and it will cheer some folks up."

The unscripted reunion special sees the cast - who played friends Monica, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, Phoebe and Ross - back together to chat about their memories of their time making the show which propelled them all to global stardom.

The show was set in New York - where Monica lived in a spacious park-side apartment above a coffee shop, but was actually filmed in the Warner Bros studios in Los Angeles, in front of a live studio audience.

Friends began in 1994 as a story about a group of 20-somethings negotiating their journey into adult life – learning to earn a living and looking for love.

The last episode saw the pals moving out of their iconic Manhattan apartment overlooking Central Park, as Monica (Cox) and Chandler (Perry) leave for to the suburbs to become parents to their surrogate twins.

Free spirit Phoebe (Kudrow) is married to boyfriend Mike and Rachel has given up her dream job in Paris to reunite with on-off love Ross (Schwimmer).

Read more: Friends fans crushed Paul Rudd isn't on reunion cast list

Friends: The Reunion is being broadcast in the US on HBO Max on Thursday 27 May.

In the UK and Ireland viewers with a subscription to Sky's streaming platform NOW can catch the episode from 8am BST on Thursday 27 May prior to an evening broadcast at 8pm on Sky One.

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