Courteney Cox’s 'Friends' Instagram video proves she knows just how expensive Monica’s flat is

‘The One Where My Rent Went Up $12,000’ 
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Megan C. Hills22 March 2019

Monica Geller’s flat in Friends is probably one of the most iconic television homes of all time, with its bright purple walls and that yellow picture frame around the peephole. But as time has gone by, many have pointed out how the roomy flat was a rare unicorn in New York’s wildly expensive real estate scene and would probably cost an arm and a leg in rent. It appears that Courteney Cox knows that all too well and in an Instagram post, she gave us the mini Friends sequel reboot we’ve all been craving with a realistic twist.

The star, who is currently in New York, filmed a video standing on the corner of Friends’ iconic tenement building. She waved to the camera and called out, “Night guys, I’m going home.”

The short video was one certain to pull at any Friends fans’ heartstrings, as it came complete with the show’s jazzy incidental music and a very 90s sitcom pan up to the redbrick building. However it was her hilarious caption that firmly grounded it in reality, sticking to Friends’ signature episode titling with a 2019 twist. She wrote, “The One Where My Rent Went Up $12,000.”

It’s a pretty apt observation, as a recent survey released by The Economist Intelligence Unit revealed that New York is the most expensive city in America to live in - as well as the seventh most expensive place in the entire world. (Singapore, Paris and Hong Kong took the top three spots.) In fact just a few years ago, New York Post valued Monica and Rachel’s rent at $4,500 a month at the very least based on 2016 rates - which would come out to at least $54,000 a year.

Even years on, Monica’s flat has remained a pinnacle of home inspiration and the man who designed it actually discussed why the flat is actually purple. While chatting with Great Big Story, production designer John Shaffner revealed, “Colour is really important in establishing the show identity. When you switch to Friends, you see that it is purple and you stay tuned.”

For a little while, we also didn’t know what lay behind that mysterious door at the very end of the flat - which was a deliberate choice for a smart reason. He explained, “One of the responsibilities of a production designer is to look into the future. If you can, anyway. We put a door all the way up this hallway and we really didn’t say where it went to. I said, ‘Why don’t we just wait and see where the story is taken?’”

It wasn’t until season eight that we finally discovered what was behind the door and it was neat freak Monica’s darkest secret: a messy and disorganised closet. (Literal) props to John Shaffner for opening the door to that hilarious storyline.

Jennifer Aniston - In pictures

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