Friends Is Leaving Netflix In Just 24 Hours And Fans Are Not Taking It Well

Be honest, how many times have you found yourself scrolling through Netflix for around an hour, only to end up settling for an episode of Friends you pretty much already know word-for-word but still find yourself laughing along with?

Or, how many times have you experienced the pure elation of stumbling upon an episode you think you’ve not seen before, only to discover five minutes in that you have, in fact, watched it at least 20 times?

But hey, you still watched it till the end anyway, right?

For many of us, Friends has been the ultimate comfort show for… well… decades, if we’re being honest, and its arrival on Netflix in 2018 meant that it’s never been able to revisit classic episodes of the Emmy-winning show.

However, Friends devotees have now been dealt a blow after it was spotted earlier this month that the beloved sitcom will be leaving the platform at the end of 2025, with the date of its exit listed as 30 December.

And let’s just say they haven’t exactly taken the news well…

HuffPost UK has contacted Netflix for comment.

Fortunately, there may be a glimmer of hope for Friends fans in the future.

While it looks like Netflix users will no longer be able to watch the show on demand from January onwards, it’s worth pointing out that the US streaming platform HBO Max is set to launch in the UK next year.

HBO Max is the current streaming home of Friends in the US, so it’s a fair bet that when it comes to UK screens, that’s where the beloved show will be available.

A UK launch date for HBO Max is yet to be confirmed, although an official press release claimed it would be debuting in “early 2026”.

This press release also claimed that after HBO Max launches in the UK, existing Now users would “receive bundled access to the ad-supported version of Max, seamlessly integrated into the Now experience alongside other premium content”.

Since then, The Hollywood Reporter has claimed it will premiere at some point in March, meaning there’s not too long to wait (and hey, you could always blow the dust off your old DVD boxsets between now and then).

Friends originally ran for 10 seasons between 1994 and 2004, making international household names of cast members Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer.

For those already missing the show, Friends spin-off Joey (a short-lived and poorly-received series focussing on Matt LeBlanc’s character) recently began streaming for the first time, including “lost” episodes that had previously never aired in the US.