Matthew Perry's Ex Rene Ashton Reveals They Joined the 'Mile High Club' Aboard Bruce Willis' Private Jet
Matthew Perry and Rene Ashton dated while he was filming 'The Whole Nine Yards.'
Oct. 27 2026, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Matthew Perry's ex-girlfriend revealed the pair got intimate aboard an A-list star's private plane in a new documentary about the late Friends star, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Rene Ashton's secret came to light in Netflix's three-part doc, The One About Matthew Perry, which dropped on Tuesday, October 27, as she detailed how she and the actor joined the mile-high club aboard Bruce Willis' jet.
Matthew Perry and Rene Ashton Vacationed With Bruce Willis
Ashton opened up about her romance with Perry in the new Netflix documentary.
Perry and Willis co-starred together in the 2000 crime comedy The Whole Nine Yards, and Ashton shared how the NBC star was blown away by the Die Hard legend's star power, as well as his wealth.
The actress dated Perry in 1999 when he filmed the project, revealing in the Netflix doc, "I was in love with him because he's, at the core, good people," despite his longtime struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.
"Before he went to shoot The Whole Nine Yards, Bruce asked him and I to go to Turks and Caicos with him and his then-girlfriend. It was pretty amazing. There weren’t any paparazzi there, so it was a nice, normal, and fun trip," Ashton shared.
Matthew Perry and Rene Ashton 'Joined a Club' on Bruce Willis' Plane
Perry and Ashton dated in 1999.
Ashton revealed how Perry was on cloud nine being able to take a trip with the action hero.
"And when Bruce asked him and I to go on his private plane, Matthew was so excited. He's like, 'Bruce wants us to go on his private plane. Bruce wants me to share a plane with him,'" she said of her then-boyfriend's giddy reaction.
When quizzed what the jet was like, Ashton spilled, "I joined a club," during her flight with Perry.
Bruce Willis Appeared On 'Friends' After Losing A Bet With Matthew Perry
Willis memorably guest-starred in three episodes of 'Friends' in 2000.
The friendship later resulted in Willis' three-episode story arc on season 6 of Friends, where he played Paul Stephens, the overprotective dad of a much younger student whom David Schwimmer's Ross Geller was dating at the time.
"Bruce had a bet with Matthew. Bruce believed the film would be a flop. Matthew bet that it would be a hit. If Bruce lost, he would make a guest appearance on Friends.” The Whole Nine Yards director Jonathan Lynn revealed, as the flick went on to become a success.
Matthew Perry Wanted to Be Known as a 'Serious Actor'
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Ashton said Perry worried how he was going to 'maintain' his career.
Ashton also revealed Perry was plagued by insecurities about his Hollywood future, fearing he would never escape the shadow of his iconic Friends character, Chandler Bing, or convince audiences he could play anyone else.
"When you think of Matthew Perry, you think, 'Oh, he had it all.' But Matthew was concerned about what's next," she explained on the documentary.
She claimed he would ask himself, "'What’s next? How am I gonna maintain this? How am I gonna supersede this?’ Matthew wanted very much to be a serious actor. He wanted to be known as a serious actor. That was really important to him."
Perry was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023, at just 54 years old.
His death was ruled an accident, with the medical examiner determining he died from the acute effects of ketamine. Drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid addiction, were listed as contributing factors in the beloved star's tragic demise.
