The iconic TV comedy series “Friends” has been off the air for more than a decade now, but people still can’t stop talking about it. So much so that a lot of YouTubers still make videos where they compile interesting facts about the show and gather thousands of views.
One of the most interesting facts is the one where the character Joey, played by Matt Leblanc, wore a sling for a few episodes. Some YouTubers include this fact in their videos and say that LeBlanc had a real-life accident in which he dislocated his shoulder, which is why he had to wear the sling.
Jimmy Kimmel recently had LeBlanc as his guest on his talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and the latter finally revealed how exactly he dislocated his left shoulder. In case you missed that interview, you can watch a clip of the show below.
Matt LeBlanc injures his arm during taping
Apparently, the accident happened while the cast was taping the episode titled, “The One Where No One's Ready.” In this episode, Joey, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe and Rachel are all getting ready to go to an event where Ross will be giving a speech. Joey and Chandler mess around with each other while arguing while everybody else is dressing up.
LeBlanc was telling Kimmel that Joey and Chandler are fighting over a chair at Monica’s apartment, and at one point neither of them is sitting on it.
Joey and Chandler realize this and stare at each other, and both of them race towards the chair. Joey is supposed to simply step over the table and land comfortably on the chair.
However, for some reason, LeBlanc landed completely upside down and used his left arm to break his fall, consequently injuring his shoulder in the process.
Everybody in the audience thought it was part of the show and started laughing, not realizing that LeBlanc was actually hurt.
LeBlanc went backstage and realized he couldn’t move his left arm. The taping had to be shut down and the audience was sent home.
The aftermath of the LeBlanc’s injury on “Friends”
Due to the sling which LeBlanc had to wear, the injury was written into the show as an incident in which Joey injures his shoulder while jumping up and down his bed.
LeBlanc wore the sling for a couple of more episodes and the audience that was sent home during that particular taping was flown right back to the studio. LeBlanc was completely surprised by his injury and jokingly said that he didn’t even consider what he did on the show a “stunt.”
