The woman who was photographed with Matthew Perry before his death has spoken out about their final meeting.
After the Friends star was found dead on 28 October at his Los Angeles home, multiple outlets reported spotting him with a mystery woman one day prior. The woman, named Athenna Crosby, spoke out for the first time in an interview with Us Weekly published on Wednesday.
"He was talking the whole time and was super excited to be hanging out," Athenna recalled of speaking to Matthew, 54, the day before his death. "It was great. He was in a good state of mind and talking about his life and sharing with me funny stories about his time in the industry."
She continued, "He was talking about how excited he was to have a second act and had struggles that inhibited his acting aspirations but had turned it all around and was looking forward to getting back into it full swing."
Athenna admitted that her Friday lunch with Matthew marked only the second time they had met up in person. While she described the actor as "so private", she also noted he was open about his previous struggle with addiction.
"He was very healthy and talking about how he was looking forward to hitting the pickleball court and how he had gotten very into it," she told the outlet. "He was telling me I needed to try it and it was fun. He said he was losing weight and getting in shape."
She added, "He was in a positive place and doing so good (and) was being extra healthy."
Asserting that her friend had "really come back strong from" his alcohol addiction, Athenna reflected, "He said for a lot of years he was lost in the addiction and how he fully came out on the other side... He was clean and didn't order a drink."
