Friends star Jennifer Aniston has said she and fellow actress Gwyneth Paltrow still discuss their mutual ex Brad Pitt, giving a rare glimpse into the Hollywood stars’ relationships.

Paltrow and Pitt were engaged for a few months during 1996 and 1997, and he was then married to Aniston from 2000 to 2005.

She was asked by Vanity Fair if she and her close friend Paltrow ever discuss their ex, and responded: “Oh, of course. How can we not? We’re girls.”

However, their actual conversations were left to the reader’s imagination, with the interviewer saying the pair “trade wellness intel more than gossip”.

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Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston both attended the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles in 2020

Both women are known for being health-conscious, and Aniston added: “We’re always swapping advice – ‘What are you doing for this?’ ‘What are you doing for that?’ ‘Do you have a new doctor for that?’”

However, Aniston did refer to her hugely publicised split from Pitt 20 years ago as “such a vulnerable time”, adding: “Ironically, I went to her [Paltrow] and Brad’s engagement party.”

The actresses met when Paltrow and David Schwimmer, Aniston’s Friends co-star, were filming 1996 film The Pallbearer.

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Happier times: Friends cast Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston in 1994

‘We’d already been mourning Matthew Perry’

Aniston also touched on the 2023 death of Friends star Matthew Perry, whose addiction problems have been well-documented.

A post-mortem examination found a high concentration of ketamine in his blood, and determined that “acute effects” of the drug had killed him.

“We did everything we could when we could,” she said, referencing the Friends stars’ efforts to help him with his addictions.

“But it almost felt like we’d been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight.

“As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there’s a part of me that thinks this is better.

“I’m glad he’s out of that pain.”

Aniston and Perry played two of the six young friends living in New York City in the globally popular series, which ran from 1994 until 2004. The Emmy and Bafta-winning show had a sustained resurgence in popularity after it debuted on Netflix in 2015.

Michelle Obama friendship

Aniston is most famous for playing Rachel Green in the show, but has also appeared in romantic comedy films with co-stars including Adam Sandler, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. She also stars in US TV series The Morning Show with Reese Witherspoon, about a network news morning programme.

During the Vanity Fair interview, she also touched on being the subject of tabloid rumours, such as one linking her romantically to President Barack Obama, which she scotched last year on the Jimmy Kimmel show.

She said she knows Michelle Obama better than the former president, adding: “I was lucky enough to have dinner with Michelle a month ago,” but said the rumour “wasn’t even brought up” during their time together.

“I don’t think anyone really pays attention to reports like that if you’re the subject of them,” she added.