We never thought of it like this.

Every so often there is a new fan theory about Friends. It's still on TV everyday so it's no surprise that fans of the show would still be thinking about it over 10 years after it finished. A recent one we heard about was the theory that Monica and Joey are actually drug addicts, but the latest one is way sadder. It centres around Ross and his son Ben and what happened to their relationship. Reddit user smokingcage got thinking about that fact that Ben, who is played by Cole Sprouse, doesn't appear in the last two series. Given that Ross still played a major role and even welcomed a second child into the show, it's a bit strange that Ben never made an appearance. It's also been pointed out that his name was brought up during that time but only 6 times in 54 episodes.   So, with that being said, smokingcage thinks that he is no longer in the show because Ross lost custody of Ben some time between season 8 and season 9. He reckons that his behaviour may be the reason she fought for sole custody. Smokingcages points some examples, such as, when he tries to convince a self-defense instructor to help him “scare” his female friends or when he tries to kiss his first cousin. Smokingcage explains his theory:

"Did Ross's insanity hit a breaking point with his ex-wife? Could she no longer handle his nice guy syndrome and homophobic snickering? Did she decide to take full custody of her son?

"Did Ross even fight her for Ben, or just let him go, shifting his focus to the new baby he had with the woman of his obsession? He couldn't even handle his daughter having a male caregiver."