Monica And Chandler Were Never Supposed To Marry

Have you ever imagined what Friends would be like if Monica and Chandler weren't a thing? No, of course you haven't — because that would be a horrible hellscape where the only romantic tension on the show would come from Ross and Rachel, aka the friends who never want to stop talking about the breakup they went through years earlier. It's painful to think of a world where Monica and Chandler don't become "The Bings," but according to Friends co-creator Marta Kaufman, the writers didn't intend for Friends' Monica and Chandler to get together in any serious way. Kaufman dropped that serious truth bomb at a panel at the ATX Television Festival, stating that if it weren't for the audience's positive response to seeing Monica and Chandler in bed together in the episode "The One With Ross' Wedding Part Two," the writers may never have plotted out a romantic future for the couple:

We had to stop [taping] the show because people were screaming... We thought it was going to be funny and we were going to get rid of it. Suddenly the audience told us they had been waiting for that and we had to rethink how we were going to keep going and change the relationship. But that wasn't a person — it was an entire, immediate expression of joy.

So instead of this:

Friends could have been more like this:

So, thank you, Friends studio audience of 1998: you officially made Monica and Chandler a thing. Seriously, can you imagine a world where these do didn't get together? In the words of Chandler Bing, "Could that be any more terrible?" Here's what would (or, rather, wouldn't) have happened if Monica and Chandler were a fling instead of The Real Thing.

Monica Would Have Never Gotten Into A Turkey Head

What an iconic moment we would have lost!

Janice Would Have Come Around A Lot More

Other than the brief relationship with Kathy, Janice was Chandler's Really Big Love. Unless the show put him with another woman outside of the six friends, he probably would have ended up with the personified version of nails on a chalkboard.

Not Having A Wedding Could Have Changed Everything

Think about it: Ross and Rachel had sex because they met up to discuss Chandler and Monica's wedding invitations. If the wedding never went down, BABY EMMA MIGHT NOT HAVE EXISTED.

Richard And Monica Would Be Endgame

They were no Monica and Chandler, but they were pretty freakin' cute together. Of course, that's not the only endgame option for Monica...

Or, It Could Have Been Joey And Monica

According to Kaufman, Monica was originally supposed to be paired off with Joey, as they seemed like the most "sexual" characters on the series. Sandwiches would have been their foreplay.

Images: NBC (screenshot); pulledacross, britainfanny/Tumblr; Giphy (5)