Jennifer Aniston reveals final conversation with Matthew Perry the day he died: 'Healthy'

Friends star Jennifer Aniston has revealed she spoke to Matthew Perry the morning he died, saying he was "happy" and "healthy" before his shock passing. Matthew, who was most famous for his role as Chandler Bing in the sitcom, died of an apparent drowning, leaving his friends, family and millions of fans heartbroken.

"He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that’s all I know," Jennifer told Variety through tears in her first interview following her Friends co-star's death.

"I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty. He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy," she added, with her The Morning Show co-star Reese Witherspoon holding her hand.

Matthew struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for many years, however, Jennifer stressed that he didn't relapse.

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"I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy," she said. "He was on a pursuit. He worked so hard. He really was dealt a tough one. I miss him dearly. We all do. Boy, he made us laugh really hard."

Speaking about the outpouring of love that came following Matthew's death, Jennifer said, "I hope he can know that he was loved in a way he never thought he was."

Reese, who appeared in two episodes of the show as Jennifer's character Rachel's sister, added that she thought the friendship between the cast members was "beautiful", adding they always took care of each other.

Jennifer and Matthew were famously close friends, with the late actor telling Diane Sawyer in an interview last year, "She was the one that reached out the most. You know, I'm really grateful to her for that."

'Loved him deeply'

The actress took to Instagram last month to share a heartbreaking tribute for her friend, writing: "Oh boy, this one has cut deep... Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love.

"Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be."

She continued, "For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn't hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all."

In the text message, Matthew sent Jennifer the same photo she shared in her tribute of him making her laugh and wrote, "Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day."

"Awww the first of THOUSANDS of times..." she responded.

Jennifer continued her tribute, "Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying “could you BE any crazier?

"Rest little brother. You always made my day..."

She also shared a video from the final season of Friends where Chandler and her character Rachel share a sweet moment where they say they love each other.

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