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Bruce Willis Appeared On Friends After Losing A Bet With Matthew Perry

Bruce Willis Appeared On Friends After Losing A Bet With Matthew Perry

The actor ended up winning an Emmy for the role, so it was a bet everyone won really

Bruce Willis appeared in Friends after losing a bet to Matthew Perry.

Perry recently sent love to his long-time pal Willis after it was announced he would be retiring from acting following an aphasia diagnosis.

The pair starred alongside each other in 2000 film The Whole Nine Yards, and the story goes that Perry bet Willis that the movie would reach number one at the box office when it was released.

Willis reportedly agreed to appear on Friends if Perry was right, which he was, and the rest is history.

Willis confirmed that he had indeed appeared on the much-loved sitcom after losing a bet to Perry - who of course played Chandler Bing - during a 2018 interview with Wired.

Bruce Willis in Friends.
NBC

Whether the bet in question was the one reportedly made about The Whole Nine Yards remains unclear, but one thing we do know is that Willis also donated his earnings from the show to charity.

The 67-year-old appeared on the show for three episodes, playing the part of Paul Stevens, the dad of Ross' then girlfriend Elizabeth, with his character going on to become a romantic interest for Rachel.

He won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2000, and his publicist confirmed he'd donated his income for the award-winning role to five charities: the American Foundation for AIDS Research, AIDS Project Los Angeles, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Rape Treatment Center, and UCLA Unicamp for underprivileged children.

So if you think about it, everybody was a winner with this wager: Willis won an Emmy, we all got to watch him be great in Friends, a load of charities got some no doubt sizable donations - and of course, Perry won the actual bet.

Following the recent news that Willis has called time on his career, Perry tweeted: "Dear Bruce Willis, I'm so sorry to hear what you are going through, but you're still the coolest man I've met in my entire life.

"You will remain in my prayers for a long long time. Maybe we should get together and watch The Whole 10 Yards and get a couple of hours of sleep."

Willis gained superstar status for his role as John McClane in Die Hard, but also went on to star in huge films such as The Fifth ElementThe Sixth Sense and Sin City.

He is known for his hard-man persona, but also picked up a Golden Globe for his role as private detective David Addison in Moonlighting.

But he is now stepping away from the limelight after being diagnosed with aphasia, which affects cognitive functions such as the ability to speak, write, and understand language.

The NHS website describes the disorder as 'when a person has difficulty with their language or speech' and says it is 'usually caused by damage to the left side of the brain'.

Sharing the sad news, a joint statement issued by his wife Emma, ex-wife Demi Moore and his five children read: "To Bruce's amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities.

Bruce Willis has announced he will step back from acting.
Alamy

"As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.

"This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support.

"We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him.

"As Bruce always says, 'Live it up' and together we plan to do just that."

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Featured Image Credit: Alamy/Warner Bros. Studios