This iconic Friends scene was based on a real life joke

Every Friends fanatic loves The One Where No One’s Ready.

The episode takes place almost entirely in Monica’s apartment and follows the gang as they prepare for a fancy dinner at Ross’s workplace, during which various obstacles stand in their way. It’s so popular, in fact, that Rolling Stone ranked it #3 on their top 50 Friends episodes.

The episode is full of iconic moments, from Monica becoming obsessed with a voicemail from her ex-boyfriend Richard to Joey and Chandler fighting over a chair (and the cushions on it).

The scene everyone remembers most is when Joey pays Chandler back for stealing all of his underwear by wearing every item of clothing in his roommate’s closet and, to top it all off, doing a few lunges.

But what you may not realize is that the scene was inspired by a moment from the writers’ private lives.

Speaking to Vulture in 2019, Friends producer Greg Malins said he heard a story about a friend who came home to find his roommate still wearing all his clothes.

Apparently, the boyfriend had stuffed all of his clothes into a plastic bag and his roommate had decided to, uh, pleasantly surprise him by emptying the entire bag and showing it off himself.

Even the roommate’s statement “Look! I’m wearing all your clothes!” would eventually be changed in the Friends script.

Meanwhile, The Guardian also published its own piece on the history of Friends this week, revealing that the famous scene with Ross’s leather pants was also based on a true story.

Writer Adam Chase said: “I was talked into buying an outrageously expensive pair, but I’ve never worn them again.”

The rest, as we know, has become history for the Friends.

Friends is now available to stream on Netflix.