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'Friends' costars Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry are distant cousins, according to a genealogy website

Olivia Singh   

'Friends' costars Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry are distant cousins, according to a genealogy website
  • "Friends" stars Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry are related, according to genealogy site MyHeritage.
  • The actors are 11th cousins twice removed per MyHeritage's research, a rep confirmed to Insider.
  • Representatives for Cox and Perry didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

"Friends" stars Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry are distant cousins, according to the genealogy website MyHeritage.

Research done by MyHeritage found that the two actors are 11th cousins twice removed. They share two relatives named William Osbern Haskell III and Ellen Haskell, who lived in the UK and wed approximately 500 years ago, CNN reported.

One of William and Ellen's sons, Captain William Roger Haskell IV, is directly related to John Bennett Perry, who is Perry's father, per CNN. Their other child, Roger Haskell, is an ancestor of Courteney Copeland, who is Cox's mother.

MyHeritage's findings were first published by CNN on Wednesday, and Insider also received confirmation of the research findings from a representative of the genealogy site. The company's research was also conducted using Geni, another service MyHeritage acquired, which also provides information on family trees.

"We went into this line very deeply, we checked every name," Roi Mandel, the head of research at MyHeritage, told CNN. "We found a lot of records that support it, and we have confidence that they are related."

Mandel also said that it's not unusual to find connections like this when people dig deeper into their ancestry.

According to MyHeritage, Cox and Perry are also distantly related to Lady Gaga. Cox is the singer's 17th cousin once removed and Perry is Gaga's 14th cousin thrice removed.

At the time of writing, the "Friends" costars haven't publicly addressed MyHeritage's findings. Representatives for Cox and Perry didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Cox and Perry are perhaps best known for playing Monica Geller and Chandler Bing on "Friends," the hit NBC sitcom that aired for 10 seasons between 1994 and 2004.

Cox's and Perry's characters began as friends on the show. Their relationship turned romantic at the end of season four, while in London for the wedding of Ross Geller (Monica's brother) and Emily Waltham. Monica and Chandler secretly dated until season five, when everyone found out.

The couple got married at the end of season seven and became parents on the show's series finale.

"Friends" fans will get to see Cox, Perry, and the rest of the main stars reunite for a highly-anticipated unscripted special for HBO Max, which will be available to stream on Thursday.

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