Many fans of the popular sitcom Friends and the YouTube sensation Annie LeBlanc have wondered if they share a common ancestor. After all, they have the same last name and both are famous in the entertainment industry. Is there a hidden family connection between Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribbiani on Friends, and Annie LeBlanc, who rose to fame as a gymnast and singer on YouTube? In this article, we will explore the facts and reveal the truth behind the rumor.
Who is Matt LeBlanc?
Matt LeBlanc is an American actor, best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani on the NBC sitcom Friends, which ran from 1994 to 2004. He also starred in its spin-off series, Joey, from 2004 to 2006. For his work on Friends, LeBlanc received three nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also starred as a fictionalized version of himself in Episodes (2011–2017), for which he won a Golden Globe Award and received four additional Emmy Award nominations. He co-hosted Top Gear from 2016 to 2019. From 2016 to 2020, he played patriarch Adam Burns in the CBS sitcom Man with a Plan.
LeBlanc was born on July 25, 1967, in Newton, Massachusetts. His mother, Patricia (née Di Cillo), was an office manager; his father, Paul LeBlanc, was a mechanic and a veteran of the Vietnam War. His father is of French-Canadian descent and his mother is of Italian ancestry, the daughter of immigrants from Arce, Lazio. He attended Newton North High School, where he graduated in the same year as future comedian Louis C.K. After high school he attended college at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. He dropped out shortly after starting his second semester.
LeBlanc moved to New York at the age of 17 to pursue a career in modeling, but he was told he was too short to be in the industry. His acting career began after a woman invited him to accompany her to an audition, where he ended up getting signed by her manager. Although he had booked commercials and television and film roles before Friends, he was reportedly down to his last eleven dollars before landing the role of Joey Tribbiani.
Who is Annie LeBlanc?
Annie LeBlanc is an American YouTuber, actress, singer, and former gymnast. In December 2018, Business Insider called her one of the “most famous teens in the world.” She appeared on the YouTube channel Bratayley from the age of four and has since gained an extensive online following of her own. LeBlanc was on the YouTube Red series We Are Savvy before going on to work with the Brat network, starring as Rhyme McAdams in Chicken Girls and its spinoff films and the titular character of A Girl Named Jo. On television, she played Lex in the Nickelodeon buddy comedy series Side Hustle.
LeBlanc was born on December 5, 2004, in Augusta, Georgia. Her mother’s name is Katie LeBlanc and her father’s name is Billy LeBlanc. She has two siblings: a younger sister Hayley, who is also an actress, and an older brother Caleb, who died in 2015 from a heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, at the age of 13. She started taking gymnastics classes when she was two years old, and her family started posting videos of her online when she was three. She trained as a gymnast until August 2017.
The LeBlancs previously lived in Severna Park, Maryland, but moved to Los Angeles, California to better pursue an acting and music career. LeBlanc was originally known for her gymnastic videos. Her gymnastic meets and tutorials started being published in 2008 on her YouTube channel, formerly known as Acroanna, when she was three years old. The channel’s name was changed in 2017, and now features music videos of Jules LeBlanc.
LeBlanc is one of the stars of a daily vlog on the YouTube channel “Bratayley” (7.3M+ subscribers). The vlog follows the lives of the LeBlanc family; no further videos have been posted since November 2019. The name “Bratayley” was initially a nickname for Hayley, combining the word “brat” and the name “Hayley.”
LeBlanc had begun to receive attention for her content on her TikTok handle @julesleblanc. In April 2018, she won the Shorty Award for “Muser of the Year”. LeBlanc and Hayden Summerall collaborated on a YouTube cover of “Little Do You Know” by Alex & Sierra, which went viral. LeBlanc appeared at position 48 on the Emerging Artists Billboard Chart. LeBlanc and Summerall were cast as leads in Chicken Girls despite having no acting experience prior to starring in the series.
Are They Related?
The short answer is no. Matt LeBlanc and Annie LeBlanc are not related by blood or marriage. They just happen to share a common surname, which is not uncommon in the United States. According to Ancestry.com, LeBlanc is a French name meaning “the white one”, and it is the 1,082nd most common surname in the U.S., with over 40,000 people bearing it as of 2010.
There is no evidence that Matt and Annie have ever met or interacted with each other, let alone have any family ties. They belong to different generations, different ethnic backgrounds, and different branches of the entertainment industry. They also live on opposite coasts of the country.
The rumor that they are related may have originated from fans who noticed their similar last names and assumed there must be a connection. However, this is a case of coincidence, not kinship.
Conclusion
Matt LeBlanc and Annie LeBlanc are two successful celebrities who have made their mark in their respective fields. However, they are not related in any way, shape, or form. They are simply two individuals who share a common last name, but nothing else. The rumor that they are related is false and has no basis in reality.
