You’d think, after watching it on repeat for all these years, Friends would hold no more surprises for us. And, for the most part, that’s true: we know every joke, every gesture, every facial expression, every single outfit. We can croon along to all of Phoebe’s lyrical masterpieces, recite the Central Perk gang’s wages down to the very last cent and list all of the show’s numerous mistakes and continuity errors without batting an eyelid.

Above all else, though, we know that iconic theme song inside out – claps and all.

Or, at least, we thought we did. However, a throwaway moment on ITV’s Saturday Night Takeaway has now shaken the very foundations of our existence, as it turns out we’ve all been singing the wrong lyrics for the past twenty-odd years.

During the show’s singalong segment, Alison from Chelmsford was asked to complete the lyrics of The Rembrandts’ iconic I’ll Be There For You ballad.

Naturally, she was more than confident in her abilities to do just that (who wouldn’t be, eh?), and did so with gusto.

“When the rain starts to fall,” she sang happily.

Declan Donnelly, though, shook his head in mock-disappointment as he informed her that she had gotten it wrong.

“It’s ‘pour’,” he pointed out, leaving Alison – and everyone else at home – speechless.

“What % of the population just screamed “fall” at their TV? The fact that the lyric is ‘pour’ has set me a bit on edge #SNT #andanddec #SaturdayNight,” tweeted one.

Another added: “When the rain starts to POUR?! WHAT?! MY LIFE HAS BEEN A LIE!”

“I tell you something, those Rembrandts lyrics have caused A LOT of anger in this house. I’ve ALWAYS sung ‘Fall’.” said one more.

Of course, there were a few impossibly smug people who couldn’t resist pointing out that they’ve been singing ‘pour’ since, like, forever.

Hmm. While we hate to admit defeat, we have to admit that ‘pour’ makes a lot more sense than ‘fall’ – if only for the rhyme-factor.

“I’ll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I’ll be there for you, like I’ve been there before.”

However, it’s not the first time that The Rembrandts have shocked us with a revelation about their catchy lyrics. 

Remember the clapping we mentioned earlier? Well, it turns out that we’ve been mucking that up all this time, too.

Speaking to Buzzfeed a little while back, Danny Wilde and Phil Solem (the men behind the band) revealed that we should be clapping four times, not five – a fact which even confuses some of the cast members.

“I watched that Jimmy Kimmel thing a couple weeks ago and Courteney [Cox], when it came to that part, she goes (clap, clap, clap, clap, clap),” Solem said.

“She did it five times. I was like, Court. FOUR!”

Maybe it’s time we all stopped skipping the Friends intro on Netflix and started listening to the song properly, eh? It’s the only way we’ll learn…

Image: Getty