Rachel's ex Barry from Friends is unrecognizable in new career as gaming podcaster

Barry may have only appeared in six episodes of Friends, but arguably, he was one of the most important characters in the show's storyline.

If Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) hadn't decided to ditch Barry Farber (Mitchell Whitfield) on her wedding day and make a dash for Central Perk, she never would have been reunited with former best friend Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), or enter an 'on again off again relationship' with Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) - or been a member of the group at all.

However, despite his lore being such a significant part of the show, Friends fans may fail to recognize the actor now, 32 years on from when the show first premiered on September 22, 1994.

After appearing on one of the biggest shows on the planet, Whitfield now stays out of the spotlight, although still credits his role on Friends in his Instagram bio, which reads: "Barry from #FRIENDS , Stan from #MyCousinVinny , voice of Fixit, Donatello, Demi and more. Host of YourTechReport and @pbgpodcast".

His podcast, the pbg podcast, which stands for 'Positively Board Gaming', offers a 'welcoming space to deepen your appreciation for tabletop games,' according to the Instagram bio.

It's a weekly podcast, with new episodes releasing every Thursday at 8 p.m ET.

In his personal life, Whitfield has two children named Ryan and Samantha with his wife Tracy.

Following his role in Friends, the 62-year-old went on to guest star in shows such as Murder, She Wrote, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

He also voiced Donatello in the 2007 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film.

Whitfield's character, Barry, appeared for the first time in the second ever episode of the show, in which Rachel visits her ex's dentist office to return her engagement ring and apologize for leaving him at the altar.

However, to her surprise, she learns that he has gone on their planned honeymoon with none other than Rachel's Made of Honor, Mindy.

He was, of course, mentioned in the pilot episode before physically appearing.

As Friends fans will vividly recall, this relationship with Mindy quickly progresses to the pair tying the knot, and Barry once again making an appearance in the show in the 20th episode of the first season, which was titled 'The One Where The Monkey Got Away'. During the episode, Rachel is left devastated when she learns Mindy and Barry are engaged. She later attends their wedding with Ross.

Barry had a 'discrete' name change in the show

Although we're sure many Friends fanatics picked up on this blunder - many may not have realized that Barry's name actually changed throughout the series.

During the pilot, fans were introduced to Barry as Barry Finkle, which later changed to Farber.

Eagle-eyed fans took to Reddit to discuss this, with the OP posting: "Just rewatched the pilot episode and Rachel says that Barry's last name is Finkle..but in later episodes he's referred to as Dr. Barry Farber!

"(She says it in the scene where she's leaving him a bunch of voicemails defending why she walked out on the wedding)"

The OP then questioned whether anyone else noticed this - which many fans on the Reddit Thread saying they did.

One replied: "There were in a fact a few changes from the pilot episode. Such as the actress who plays Carol plus some other details, including Barry’s surname."

"I KNEW I WASNT CRAZY!" exclaimed a second, while a third explained: "Yeah sometimes the writer's say one thing then they forget it and ends up being changed."