Matthew Perry’s ex-girlfriend Kayti Edwards ‘doesn’t believe’ he drowned

"There are a lot of things that aren’t adding up for me." Photo / AP

Matthew Perry’s ex-girlfriend Kayti Edwards doesn’t “believe” he drowned.

The former Friends star - who struggled with addiction to alcohol and drugs for a number of years - was found dead in his hot tub towards the end of last month at the age of 54, and while it is thought he had been sober in the months leading up to his death, his former flame Edwards is concerned he may have suffered a “relapse” just a week beforehand.

She told the Sun on Sunday: “There are a lot of things that aren’t adding up for me. I don’t believe he just drowned in his Jacuzzi; that doesn’t sound right. I know Matthew, and I know that he wouldn’t have just drowned. I think he might have taken pills in the week leading up to this.”

“They said there were no prescription painkillers at the scene, which doesn’t surprise me, because he didn’t leave drugs lying around. He was paranoid and would take them all so there wasn’t any evidence, and then go out for more when he was ready to.”

According to police, no drugs were found at the scene nor any evidence of foul play, but Edwards felt suspicious when she saw what became his last social media post.

Just days before the tragedy, the 17 Again star had referred to himself as “Mattman” - an alter ego he developed based on his obsession with Batman - and Edwards alleged that this character would only come out when Perry was intoxicated.

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“That Mattman thing was not something he did when he was sober. Mattman would come out when he was not sober and he felt kind of invincible. I was around when he was getting high, although I was not getting high with him, and when I would say maybe he should cool it a little bit with the drugs, he would say, ‘No, I’m Mattman’.”

Edwards - who dated Perry in the late 2000s but remained in touch with him and last spoke to him shortly before he released his memoir Friends, Lovers And The Big Terrible Thing in November 2022 - also claimed the TV star always yearned to be in the water when he was high.

She said: “One time, his neighbour in Hollywood Hills found Matthew naked and high in his swimming pool [and] had to go over there and get him out of his neighbour’s pool. He had a thing with water when he was doing drugs. He always wanted to be in the pool or the Jacuzzi.”