Matthew Perry claims he was once ‘punched’ by Cameron Diaz on a group date

It has been a busy week for Matthew Perry as he reflects on his life and career in new memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.

As well as explaining why he broke up with the “brilliant and beautiful” Julia Roberts in 1996, a new extract from the book sees the Friends star claim that he was once accidentally punched by Cameron Diaz on a group date.

According to Perry, 53, he and Diaz, 50, were set up in 2007, shortly after she split from Justin Timberlake.

Perry claims that Diaz got “immediately stoned” during a group dinner party and “wasn’t interested in him at all”.

Perry added that after he said “something witty” to the actor during a game of Pictionary, she accidentally hit his face while aiming for his shoulder.

“Are you f***ing kidding me?” Perry recalls saying.

The Independent has contacted Diaz’ representatives for comment.

Discussing his relationship with Roberts, Perry claimed that they would send each other “hundreds” of faxes per day, despite their busy schedules.

“Three or four times a day I would sit by my fax machine and watch the piece of paper slowly revealing her next missive,” Perry wrote in the extract from his memoir published by The Times.

He added: “I was so excited that some nights I would find myself out at some party sharing a flirtatious exchange with an attractive woman and cut the conversation short so I could race home and see if a new fax had arrived. Nine times out of 10, one had.”

Perry said that Roberts’ messages were “so smart” and that he felt as if “she was placed on this planet to make the world smile”.

“The way she strung sentences together, the way she saw the world, the way she articulated her unique thoughts, all was so captivating,” he continued, adding that their first phone call together lasted for five hours.

The break up came as Perry said dating Roberts was “too much” for him and he was “certain” she would break up with him.

He added: “So instead of facing the inevitable agony of losing her, I broke up with the beautiful and brilliant Julia Roberts.”

Elsewhere in the memoir, Perry said that he was rejected by Jennifer Aniston years before they began filming Friends.