Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman has apologised for the lack of diversity in the popular sitcom and says she could have done more.

Speaking at the virtual ATC TV Festival, she said: "I wish I knew then what I know today. Sorry, I just wish I knew then what I know now. I would've made very different decisions.

"I mean we've always encouraged people of diversity in our company, but I didn't do enough and now all I can think about is what can I do?

 "What can I do differently? How can I run my show in a new way?

"And that's something I not only wish I knew when I started showrunning, but I wish I knew all the way up through last year."

One of the show’s stars, Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay for the ten seasons Friends was on air, struck a similar chord recently.

She told ET Canada: "[If it were on air now] it would not be an all-white cast, for sure.”

Kudrow appeared alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer in the show which ran from 1994 to 2004 .

A reunion of the six was due to be filmed before the coronavirus pandemic hit.