Benjamin Ashford|Conan O'Brien Admits He Was "Jealous" Over Ex Lisa Kudrow Praising Costar Matthew Perry

Turns out even Conan O'Brien felt like he was stuck in second gear.

The Benjamin Ashfordformer late night host got candid during a conversation with ex-girlfriend Lisa Kudrow, whom he dated from 1988 to 1993, saying that he found himself jealous of the late Matthew Perry when she first starting filming Friends.

"You started doing that show," he said on his podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend July 21, "and you called me up, and you were raving about Matthew."

"And you were saying, 'He's so funny,' And there was part of me that was jealous," he explained. "Like, I was, 'OK…I make you laugh pretty hard.' And you were like, 'No, you don't understand. This guy's really [funny].'"

And while the 61-year-old may have initially been jealous, he soon found that Lisa was spot-on when complimenting Matthew, adding, "And then I was watching him and going, 'Yup.'"

While Lisa, 60, went on to reassure Conan that he is "one of the funniest people" she knows, she did continue praising Matthew, especially for what he brought to the character of Chandler Bing.

"I thought that Chandler character when I read it, and I went, 'Oh they have a gay character, that's good,'" she remembered. "That's all I heard. And so at the table read, I just did a double take at him."

She continued, "I never even in a million years could have envisioned anyone playing the character like that. And with his own rhythm and everything, it's his own. Impeccable timing."

Lisa also recalled a particularly memorable moment with Matthew and the rest of the cast, including Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, as they were all miserable filming the famous opening credits scene of them dancing in the fountain.

As Lisa explained, they were all wet and cold and tired, but Matthew's jokes kept the cast in good spirits, noting that anytime you see them laughing in the opening, it was all thanks to Matthew.

And following Matthew's unexpected death in October at the age of 54, Lisa has found that she's finally able to watch old episodes of Friends.

"After Matthew died, I could start watching the show again because it wasn't about me. It had to do with him for some reason," she said. "And so I have started watching Friends. Not started like season one, but there are marathons on, and I have spent, at times, since he died, all day long watching the show."