Exactly how old the Friends characters are actually meant to be in each season

This helps me to know my life’s on track

11 months ago

As the cost of being alive soars and the world’s temperature rises so fast we could all one day be engulfed in flames, it’s unsurprising that so many of us are opting for familiar comfort shows rather than brand new, potentially unsettling, series. And one programme known to comfort like no other is Friends.

But it’s not just the hellscape we’re living in which makes Friends the ultimate comfort programme. No, how old Ross, Monica, Rachel, Joey, Phoebe and Chandler are in each season of Friends will make you feel much better about your own chaotic life. Ross was divorced by 26. So, don’t worry hun, you’re doing great.

This is how old the Friends characters are in each season:

Rachel

When we meet Rachel running out of her wedding to Barry, she’s actually only 24. So, starting her life over, working in a coffee shop and living with a roommate in the city is actually pretty normal. Her age isn’t really mentioned again until season five when she turns 29, meaning she ages just more than a year per season. In season seven, Rachel has a meltdown over turning 30 when she’s dating her younger boyfriend Tag Jones.

Ross

Arguably low key the most chaotic Friends character, Ross is 26 (turning 27) and already divorced in the first season of the show. Unlike other characters, whose ageing gets pretty muddled in the middle of the ten-season show, Ross ages one year per series and is 29 in season three and 37 in season ten.

Monica

Although Monica went to school with Rachel, confusingly, she’s two years older. Remember when she accidentally dates the high school senior? She’s kicked out because he’s 17 and she’s 26. Not much more is said about Monica’s age after that, although she’s thought to turn 30 around season six.

Joey

Probably the weirdest age timeline of any of the Friends characters, Joey is 25 when the show starts but by the second series has aged three years and is 28. Nobody knows why. It could be that he lies about his age because he’s an actor and wants to keep up appearances. But that’s just a theory.

Phoebe

The oldest of the Friends characters, Phoebe starts off the show aged 29 and it’s revealed in a later series that she actually mugged Ross when they were teenagers and she was living on the streets. He was 12 and she was 14. So, this age gap makes sense the whole way through the ten seasons.

Chandler

In flashback scenes, Chandler went to school and was in the same class as Ross. Presumably making him also 26 (turning 27) when the show starts. But his character is another case of his age not increasing chronologically. So, he’s somewhere around his mid-thirties when the show ends.

Friends is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.