Matthew Perry: Friends star responds after pictures emerge for first time in 2 years | Photo

Matthew Perry has responded to critics after recent pictures appeared of himself in New York sparked concerns for his health.

Matthew Perry has responded to pictures where he was stepping out in New York looking unrecognisable in a stained T-shirt and sporting long fingernails.

The Friends star was photographed in public for the first time in almost two years while going for a walk on Thursday.

Perry this week. Picture: Edward Opi.

Perry in 2012.

The 49-year-old actor wore trackpants and a loose T-shirt with a stain down the front of it and sported a beard and long fingernails.

After the story and pictures were initially published by the Daily Mail, who described his nails as “dirty and unkempt”, Perry took to Twitter to respond to the claims.

I’m getting a manicure this morning. That’s okay right? I mean it says man right in the word.

— matthew perry (@MatthewPerry) June 21, 2019

It was followed up by this classic scene between his friends character, Chandler Bing, and Rachel, played by Jennifer Aniston.

Stick to what you know pic.twitter.com/79RCc0lc9x

— friends tv (@friendspremium) June 21, 2019

In February, Perry, who has previously battled addiction to alcohol and Vicodin, sparked concern from fans when he tweeted that he had been kicked out of therapy.

I got kicked out of therapy today.

— matthew perry (@MatthewPerry) February 6, 2019

Easy guys, it was just one session. I’m back in therapy where I belong:)

— matthew perry (@MatthewPerry) February 7, 2019

Matthew Perry. Picture: Robert O'Neil.

Matthew Perry. Picture: Edward Opi.

The Friends star sported long fingernails. Picture: Edward Opi / SplashNews.com.

He later told his followers to not worry as “I’m back in therapy where I belong”.

Last year Perry was rushed to hospital with a ruptured bowel and ended up sending three months in a hospital bed recovering.

At the time a spokeswoman for the actor said he underwent an operation in Los Angeles and was “grateful for the concern and asks for continued privacy as he heals”.

A punctured bowel — or gastrointestinal perforation — can occur along any point in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract, including the stomach, small intestine and large intestine.

It’s the first time the actor has been photographed in public in almost two years. Picture: Edward Opi / SplashNews.com.

Matthew Perry in 1999 at the height of his Friends fame.

Perry played Chandler Bing on Friends from 1994 to 2004, with the show’s finale one of the most watched television episodes of all time.

But despite the meteoric success of Friends — the show’s stars were reportedly paid a staggering $1.44 million each per episode for the final season — behind the scenes Perry was struggling.

In 1997 he entered rehab for his addiction to prescription painkiller Vicodin and completed a second stint in 2001 for Vicodin, alcohol, amphetamines and methadone.

Perry admitted in 2016 that he can’t remember three years of Friends because he was “out of it”.

The actor was asked on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show in the UK what his least favourite episode of the sitcom was.

Perry and the Friends cast raked in a reported $1.44 million for the final

“Oh my goodness,” Perry said.

“I think the answer is I don’t remember three years of it, so none of those … A little bit of the time I was a little out of it … Anyway my answer to your question is somewhere between season three and six.”

The actor opened up about his battle with addiction and getting sober in 2013, telling People he “couldn’t stop” using alcohol and pills during that period.

“I was on Friends from age 24 to 34. I was in the white-hot flame of fame. The six of us were just everywhere all the time,” he said.

“From an outsider’s perspective, it would seem like I had it all. It was actually a very lonely time for me because I was suffering from alcoholism. It was going on before Friends, but it’s a progressive disease.”