Fans pile on James Corden after he was announced as host of the Friends reunion

An unlikely star has become the centre of vicious online backlash – with many claiming he’s going to “ruin” the long-awaited Friends reunion.

They’re no Friends of his.

Some TV fans have taken to social media to vent their frustration with the fact that James Corden is hosting the much-vaunted Friends reunion special airing on HBO Max in the US later this month.

“All these people could’ve been a part of the friends reunion but Warner Bros chose Justin Bieber and James Corden,” one Twitter user griped alongside a picture of notable guest stars from the show’s run, including Brad Pitt and Paul Rudd.

“James Corden adding the Friends reunion to the list of things he’s ruined with his mere presence,” another opined.

RELATED: First look at long-awaited Friends reunion

The cast of the iconic series reunited on the original set for the show. Picture: Supplied.

“Don’t get me wrong I’ve been wanting a Friends reunion since 2004 but if someone told me James Corden would be in it I’d have told them not to bother,” read one tweet summing up the tenor of the reactions.

Meanwhile, UK singer-songwriter Grace Petri quipped, “James Corden in the Friends reunion makes sense to me … It’s straight people’s turn to get their culture ruined.”

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Proving that interest in Friends – and, perhaps, scorn for Corden – is truly international, the, uh, Northern Independence Party – a “new political party demanding independence for the North of England” – wrote, “This is good, but it would be better with James Corden in it,” before huffily attributing the line to “someone with a brain parasite”.

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The decision to use Corden as host has been met with backlash. Picture: Getty Images/AFP.

The presence of Corden, 42, in the reunion does seem odd given the host’s Late Late Show airs on CBS, while Friends was a linchpin of rival NBC’s programming for years. (ABC late-night man Jimmy Kimmel did, however, host the last Friends reunion, albeit a partial one, in 2014.)

But Corden’s presence is hardly the least shocking bit of Friends news circulating this week. Fans were alarmed when troubled cast member Matthew Perry appeared in the teaser for the reunion slurring his words and sporting a distinctly haunted look.

Perry has admitted to struggling with addiction in the past, revealing that he doesn’t remember filming entire seasons of the show.

Meanwhile, there is a huge question mark over whether or not the reunion will air in Australia. news.com.au understands no Australian streaming platform has the rights to screen the special yet in what would no doubt be a huge disappointment to local fans.

The special will offer “a real-life unscripted celebration of the beloved show”, which first aired in 1994 and became a pop culture powerhouse still adored by fans today.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission