Fans of the hit ’90s sitcom Friends were in uproar when news broke one of the show’s stars, Matt LeBlanc, was retiring.
The actor made the shocking announcement on US talk show Conan in August last year – and it quickly made headlines.
But Matt tells TV WEEK he’s not ready to put his feet up just yet.
“I said that as a joke,” the popular 50-year-old actor admits. “And it’s been haunting me ever since.”
While he has no current plans to retire, he says he will at some point.
“But not today,” he confirms.
With Friends co-stars Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courtney Cox and Lisa Kudrow.
Even if Matt keeps working for a few more years, he’ll always be best known for playing Joey Tribbiani in Friends.
The US series is one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. And it continues to attract new viewers through streaming platforms like Stan.
And Matt thinks he knows why the show is just as appealing to audiences today as it was when it started in 1994.
“We never dealt with anything topical,” he explains.
“We always dealt with themes that are universal, like love, trust, betrayal, marriage and family. We never talked about politics or the economy or things like that.”
Matt with his Top Gear co-hosts Rory Reid (left) and Chris Harris.
Now, though, Matt is co-host on motoring show Top Gear. He joined the series in 2016, following the departure of hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
It was a surprise casting that stunned both viewers and Matt.
“It was a shock to me,” he laughs. “If you asked 10 years ago [if he’d host the show], I’d have said, ‘Who? Me?'”
But putting Matt in the driver’s seat proved to be just what Top Gear needs as it moves into its 25th season.
“There are a lot of people behind the scenes who really make the show what it is,” Matt says.
