An award-winning scene from Friends was nearly cut

It aired in Season 2.

While the likes of Janice, Richard and Mike will all rank highly in the list of guest appearances on Friends, two other characters have been an important part of the show’s history – right from the very beginning.

No, we’re not talking about Jack and Judy Geller!

In fact, cast your mind back to the very first episode of the show and Ross’ inability to move past the fact that his marriage with Carol (Jane Sibbett) was over.

After deciding to live with her lesbian lover, Susan Bunch( Jessica Hecht), Carol was still a massively important part in Ross’ life and she’s mother of his son, Ben.

Both actors are currently in London to promote Friends Fest and they were speaking about their time on the show with ITV’s Lorraine today.

During the interview, they revealed that one scene almost didn’t make it into the show and it featured in the episode ‘The One with the Lesbian Wedding.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlLno3iPKIE

Clip via – Favorite Videos

After losing the love of his life, it’s understandable that Ross was a bit awkward, passive-aggressive and cold towards Susan.

Despite his heartache, Ross ultimately came through for his ex-wife needed she needed him the most. After Carol’s parents decided not to come to their daughter’s wedding, Ross stepped in to walk her up the aisle and give her away.

During that moment, Susan and Ross made their peace. Then again, there was always a small bit of tension between both characters.

At the time of its release, ‘The One With the Lesbian Wedding’ almost wasn’t allowed to be broadcast because “it was the first lesbian wedding to ever be shown on TV and they blocked it out in some affiliates. But it all worked out as we got so much press because they blocked it. We actually won awards for that storyline!” said Jane.

Two network affiliates refused to air the episode – KJAC-TV in Port Arthur, Texas and WLIO in Lima, Ohio – citing objectionable content.

It’s worth noting that during that episode, the ceremony was officiated by Candace Gingrich, a gay-rights activist and sister to conservative Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich.

The episode was one of the first gay weddings to feature in a TV show amd shortly before the episode aired, NBC hired 200 part-time operators to take what they expected would be a flood of phone complaints for portraying a lesbian wedding.

They only received eleven calls.