Jennifer Aniston was 'shocked' when dad John Aniston left her at just age 9

Jennifer Aniston had a strained relationship with her late father John Aniston who left her when she was only nine-year-old. 

The Friends alum later reconciled with her dad but described in an interview that she was “shocked” when the Days of Our Lives star abandoned her and her mother, Nancy Dow.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1999, Aniston recalled the heartwrenching details of the time when her dad left and did not contact her for almost a year.

“My mom told me. I went to a birthday party, and when I came back, she said, ‘Your father’s not going to be around here for a little while,’” The Morning Show star said.

“She didn’t say he was gone forever. I don’t know if I blocked it, but I just remember sitting there, crying, not understanding that he was gone.

“I don’t know what I did later that night or the next day. I don’t remember anything other than it being odd that all of a sudden my father wasn’t there. And he was gone for a while.

“He just called one day and said, ‘Let’s go see The Fantastickes.’ So we had a little dinner and saw the show. After that, I started seeing him on weekends, and this new way of life just unfolded,” she said.

Jennifer went on to reveal that one day she asked John why he left her mother but he did a terrible job of explaining what broke their family.

“Like I said, he’s not a good communicator. Maybe if my parents had talked more. There were signs, but also, knowing my father, he probably didn’t say anything,” Jennifer noted.

“But, as best he could, my dad explained and apologized, and it’s enough. We’ve made up. There are still parts that are hard for me, but I’m an adult. I can’t blame my parents anymore,” she added.

However, when the superstar was asked what John taught her about fatherhood, she did not help but quip, “He wasn’t around to do that.”

Even though she said that her bond with John was healed after some time, Aniston reportedly did not invite him to her wedding with Brad Pitt in 2000.

A few months before John breathed his last, Aniston paid a heartfelt tribute to him while presenting him with the lifetime achievement award at the Daytime Emmy Awards in June 2022.