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.