Sad truth behind iconic TV show wedding

It’s one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, but there’s a sad story behind one of its most iconic episodes.

Whether it’s the real kind (such as the fairytale 2011 union of Kate Middleton and Prince William) or the fictional sort (such as Scott and Charlene’s memorable 1987 nuptials on Neighbours) people love a wedding. Mostly.

The AU$76 million June spectacle that saw Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez say “I do” in Venice in front of Oprah Winfrey, a clutch of Kardashians and a newly single Orlando Bloom certainly drew a crowd. But not in a good way.

Venetian locals protested the gauche three-day affair, which they felt had turned their city into a three-ring circus. Interestingly, the similarly star-studded 2014 wedding of George and Amal Clooney in the Italian tourist mecca didn’t make waves in quite the same way. It’s not only the Venetians who were unimpressed to see the Bezos wedding party cruise into the city on the US businessman’s superyacht.

Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos and spouse Lauren Sanchez Bezos leave the Aman Hotel on the third day of their wedding festivities. Picture: AFP.

Charlize Theron was also snarky about Bezos and Sanchez’ OTT, no-expense-spared extravaganza. As the who’s who of Hollywood gathered in the Italian city for the fancy affair, Oscar-winning Theron was in Los Angeles, hosting a fundraiser for her South African outreach program aimed at bettering the lives of people in her home country. “I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding,” the actor remarked wryly to the attendees. “But that’s OK because they suck and we’re cool.”

The backlash to the Bezos bash is the exception to the rule, however, as weddings are typically a source of joy for spectators, even when the road to the TV altar is beset by drama. Case in point: Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) getting up from her hospital bed to attend the wedding of her dreams in Grey’s Anatomy, and Hugh Grant’s bumbling best man efforts in Four Weddings And A Funeral. Until recently, Friends fans believed the biggest shock at the 2001 screen wedding of Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Monica (Courteney Cox) was the revelation that Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) was pregnant. But behind the scenes of Monica and Chandler’s much-hyped big day, Perry was struggling with the addiction that would ultimately claim his life in 2023.

Who doesn’t love a big TV wedding? Picture: Supplied.

“I married Monica and got driven back to the treatment centre … in a pick-up truck helmed by a sober technician,” Perry wrote in his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers And The Big Terrible Thing. “[It was] at the height of my highest point in Friends, the highest point in my career, the iconic moment on the iconic show.”

The wedding of Carrie and Big (Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth) in the first Sex And The City movie also raised eyebrows (and not just because of the bird headpiece perched atop the bride’s head). Series creator Darren Star revealed in a 2016 interview that he wasn’t thrilled to see Carrie get hitched to anyone.

“I think the show ultimately betrayed what it was about, which was that women don’t ultimately find happiness from marriage,” he explained. “Not that they can’t. But the show initially was going off-script from the romantic comedies that had come before it. That’s what had made women so attached.”

Kylie Minogue is yet to make it up the aisle herself, but if she does, the singer won’t be taking inspiration from the wedding dress she donned on Neighbours (now housed at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery).

“It was very of the time and we all have a big laugh about it now,” the popstar said of the high-necked lace gown during a 2017 interview on This Morning.

Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston in a scene from beloved sitcom Friends. Picture: Supplied.

One performer who has worn more than her fair share of bridal gowns is Jennifer Lopez. The singer has tied the knot eight times on film and four times in real life. A serial bride – on screen and off – Lopez, is always up for walking down the aisle, if the script (and the man) is right.

Now with four divorces under her belt, Lopez hasn’t given up on marriage, telling TV host Hoda Kotb in 2022: “You know me. I am a romantic. I have been married a few times. I still believe in happily ever after, for sure. 100 per cent.”

In the mood for some big-day drama? Say “I do” to these unusual unions: Dream Weddings: Across the USA: This 2023 reality series gives you a front-row seat to real-life weddings, from waterside ceremonies to barnyard parties. Camp Wedding: A destination wedding becomes a nightmare when a bridal party is targeted by a killer in this 2019 horror-comedy film. 4 Wedding Planners: When Lily returns home to help save her family’s wedding planning business her loyalties are tested when she discovers her ex-boyfriend is a client.

Originally published as Sad truth behind iconic TV show wedding