LOS ANGELES - Joey Tribbiani - one of the six characters from American sitcom Friends (1994 - 2004) - may be Italian and the American actor who played him, Matt LeBlanc, has Italian and French ancestry, but that hasn't stopped Irish Twitter from claiming him as their own.
LeBlanc's appearance at the much-hyped Friends reunion last week - in a short-sleeved striped shirt, arms crossed, with a benign smile, cracking jokes at every turn - has blown up on Twitter, with many saying the 53-year-old reminded them of their Irish dad or favourite uncle.
One Twitter user wrote: "Matt LeBlanc looks like a fella you'd end up having a deep conversation with in the residents' bar after a wedding. Ten pints deep and he's giving you the best advice you'll ever get. You'll never meet him again but his sage wisdom sticks with you forever. A gentleman."
Irish actress Nicola Coughlan, who starred in period drama Bridgerton, tweeted that LeBlanc must be from a small Irish town: "Matt LeBlanc is Irish, I don't want to see any other nation trying to claim him. He's from Tullamore, he drinks milk with his dinner."
Others on social media imagined what he might be saying, such as "And you paid for them jeans like that ya did, with all them holes already in them?" and Irish comedian Dara O Briain even gave his stamp of approval to a compilation of memes which he retweeted.
Someone posted a photo of her dad in the exact same pose and similar shirt, and wrote: "Who wore it best, #mattleblanc or my Dad?"
Another Twitter user summed it up best: "He looks like the Irish Uncle with a heart of gold. He's behind the times, rough round the edges, loves life, his family, his cattle and you, hugs like a bear, drinks like a fish, talks the hind legs off a donkey and punched that guy in the gob who slagged off your gay partner."
LeBlanc, who played the lovable but dim Tribbiani went on to star in the spin-off Joey from 2004 to 2006.
While he has not responded to the Irish love on social media, he posted a couple of videos teasing the reunion with co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, and wrote: "So great to see you everyone."
