If you’re a true Friends fanatic, you’ve heard most of the fan theories out there – Joey was a ghost?! – but this new theory will COMPLETELY change the way you watch your favorite show!
According to Friends superfan John Tamhopper, there are endless clues throughout the series that prove without a doubt that Ross and Rachel were actually siblings! That’s right – they were engaging in full-on incest and knew about it the entire time!
“The clues are really right there from the start,” Tamhopper said on a recent episode of his podcast FriendsZone. “It’s all about taking those clues the writers leave for you and putting it all together.”
Tamhopper has determined that Ross and Rachel found out about they were brother and sister long before their failed relationships to Carol and Barry, respectively. Having made this discovery secretly, and harboring an attraction to each other for as long as they knew each other, the two never brought it up to the Geller or Green family, which only further warped them mentally.
Tamhopper isn’t exactly sure why Ross and Monica’s parents (or Rachel’s adoptive family, for that matter) wouldn’t speak up about why they gave up their daughter Rachel when they saw their children beginning a romantic relationship, but Tamhopper assures us “their secret would have to be so unspeakably dark and horrifying that they would rather watch their children date and birth a child than allow the truth to come out.”
“I’m just excited to run through the series again and figure out that mystery,” Tamhopper said.
Ross and Rachel initially seek relationships with other people for much of their lives, but the two could ultimately not suppress their appalling feelings for each other, culminating in this famous scene:
Their twisted love for each other, and their blossoming physical relationship, provides the reasoning as to why Monica was always kept in the dark about her sister. Tamhopper does note that there are brief instances where a trained eye can see hesitation by the characters to engage in sexual contact, but ultimately, their perverted feelings for each other always overpower any sense of reservation.
Tamhopper lays out other elements of proof in his podcast, including:
- The couples’ consistently childish and petty fights
- The couple spending all of their holidays together
- Ross never approving of Rachel’s dates
- Rachel’s aversion to having Ross date her, as we know now, half-sister Jill
- Ross consistently keeping his feelings for Rachel a secret from his friends
- Rachel sabotaging Ross’ wedding to Emily
- Rachel’s close relationship to Monica, which is the type of relationship only real sisters can truly have
Tamhopper also believes that Ross’ divorce from Carol was not because she was a lesbian, but because she discovered that Ross and Rachel were siblings and, knowing Ross’ previous romantic feelings towards Rachel, was profoundly disgusted. Her marriage to Ross turned Carol into a lesbian and, though she always kept Ross’ secret, forced her to undergo years of off-screen psychological treatment.
“And ask yourself this: Why was Ross so upset that Joey not only kissed Rachel, but began to fall for her?” Tamhopper says. “It wasn’t just because Ross loved Rachel – this was a big brother just looking out for his sister, too.”
As for the most gut-wrenchingly disgusting aspect of this relationship – their baby Emma – it must be noted that the entire thing was an accident to begin with, and, according to Tamhopper, the couple likely kept the baby due to an overwhelming desire to feel normal in society’s eyes.
So there you have it, Friends fans, Ross and Rachel were brother and sister! Now what are you waiting for? Go start the series from the beginning and discover some more incestual clues for yourself!