Jennifer Aniston reconciles with father after he abandoned her as a child

Hollywood’s leading lady Jennifer Aniston had a rough childhood owing to the abandonment issues she had to tackle after her father walked out on her.

However, many decades later, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the father-daughter duo was brought together again.

A source opened up to The Mail about the freshly-reconciled relationship of veteran soap opera star John Aniston, 86, and his Hollywood-famous daughter Jennifer, 51.

“Jen forgave her father for walking out a long time ago. But their relationship has had its ups and downs,” the grapevine revealed.

“Jennifer didn't speak to him for ages. But since the coronavirus crisis, she has been on the phone almost every day. And not just brief conversations. It's like she has realised life is very short and she wants her relationship with John to be the best it can be. He's thrilled that they have reconciled,” it was further disclosed.

The Friends star has had shaky ties with her mother Nancy as well, as they remained on non-speaking terms ever since the latter published a tell-all book.

John had walked out on his wife after 11 years as well as 10-year-old Jennifer back in 1979.

Looking back at the period, Jennifer was quoted by the Daily Mail, recalling the entire episode: “I went to a birthday party, and when I came back, my mother said, 'Your father's not going to be around here for a little while.'”

“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, about a year,” she said.

Remembering how out of the blue, he suddenly got in touch with her again, the Murder Mystery actor said: “He just called one day and said, 'Let's go see The Fantasticks.’ So we had a little dinner and saw the show. After that, I started seeing him on weekends, and this new way of life unfolded.”

She explained further how her father had not been the best at communicating, “but, as best he could, he explained and apologised, and it's enough. We've made up. There's still parts that are hard for me, but I'm an adult. I can't blame my parents anymore.”

Jennifer’s relationship with her mother had turned sour after she wrote a cash-in book following her daughter’s massive success on the classic nineties sitcom, Friends.

The actor had cut off ties with her for over 15 years and had even excluded her from her wedding ceremony with Brad Pitt in 2000.

However, by the time Nancy passed away in 2016, the mother-daughter duo had managed to let bygones be bygones, giving their relationship another chance.

Reflecting on her mother, Jennifer had stated: “She was a model and it was all about presentation and what she looked like and what I looked like.”

“I did not [become] the model child she'd hoped for. This little girl just wanted to be loved by a mum who was too occupied with things that didn't quite matter. She was very critical of me,” she said.

The grapevine spilled further that Jen’s relationship with John too hadn’t been less complex: “They have gone through long periods where Jen didn't talk to him. John's a proud man but not emotional. He's never understood how volatile Jen's emotions have been.”

“But since the coronavirus crisis, she's been an amazing daughter. He says she's calling constantly to check on him. They obviously can't see each other but they have spoken more in the past few weeks than they ever have,” the insider added.

John, since 1985 has been the star of Days of Our Lives, which was also the soap opera incorporated into the plot of Friends.