The Friends Role Everyone Forgets $3 Billion Mogul Richard Branson Played
Blink-and-you’ll-miss-it: British billionaire Sir Richard Branson slips into Friends’ 1998 London episode as a street vendor, selling Joey a Union Jack hat and little else—one of the sitcom’s most unexpected cameos.
Remember that quick Friends bit in London where Joey buys a Union Jack hat from a random street vendor? That vendor was Sir Richard Branson. Yes, that Richard Branson. And the backstory behind how he got there is exactly the kind of celebrity cameo logic the 90s excelled at.
Branson on Friends: how the billionaire ended up in the episode
In 1998, while Friends was shooting its London two-parter, Branson popped up as 'The Vendor' selling tourist merch. He sells Joey a UK flag hat, keeps it laid-back, and barely says a word. Blink-and-you-miss-it stuff.
The kicker: according to Netflix Junkie, Branson landed the gig by handing over 75 first-class Virgin Atlantic tickets to the production. Friends was cameo-happy back then, and Branson knew how to make a deal.
Branson has been cameo-ing forever
Friends was hardly a one-off. He has a long track record of popping into movies and TV, sometimes as himself, often with a nudge toward Virgin branding. A few highlights people still bring up:
- Casino Royale: Shows up with his son going through airport security, playing himself.
- Only Fools and Horses (BBC One): A character grumbles about the slowpoke ahead of him and jokes the guy must own the airline… then realizes it is Branson.
- Baywatch: While he is in California chasing a record attempt, he casually takes a call from singer Gladys Knight as Hobie Buchannon and his dad look on.
- Birds of a Feather: Dorien goes hunting for a charming, loaded tycoon in a posh neighborhood and ends up delighted to run into Branson.
- London Dreams (2009): Turned up in the Bollywood drama during the peak of Virgin Mobile’s India push.
- Superman Returns: Plays a shuttle engineer, with his son also in the scene, in a sequence winking at Virgin Galactic.
None of these were subtle. They were smart placements that kept the Virgin ecosystem hovering in frame, and they did the job.
A personal loss: Joan Templeman
Branson is currently grieving the death of his wife, Joan Templeman, after five decades of marriage. Reports put her age at 80. He marked the news with a message that cuts right through the usual public-figure polish:
She was the most wonderful mum and grandmum our kids and grandkids could have ever wished for. She was my best friend, my rock, my guiding light, my world.
He has said he first met Templeman in 1976 at The Manor, his recording studio in Oxfordshire, and was struck by how down-to-earth this Scottish woman was. He kept finding excuses to swing by the shop where she worked, and in the process started amassing a stash of old, hand-painted tin signs — the kind that advertised Hovis bread and Woodbine cigarettes. It is a sweetly specific courtship detail you do not forget.
Templeman is survived by their children, Holly and Sam. The family previously lost their first child, Clare Sarah, shortly after birth. Their kids have shared warm tributes to their mother, and understandably, Branson is stepping into a tough period of mourning.
Where to watch
If you want to revisit the London trip and spot Branson’s hat-seller cameo, Friends is streaming on Max in the U.S.