There’s a side of Jennifer Aniston you probably don’t know — and it’s not glamorous, dramatic, or tied to the red carpet.

It’s the Jennifer who stands barefoot in her kitchen, hair tied up messily, sleeves rolled, trying to make dinner while unknowingly acting out a comedy routine — all by herself.

A close friend once shared a story that perfectly captures this lesser-known version of Jen: the homebody, the slightly forgetful cook, the woman who somehow makes even her quirks feel charming.

“She has this one weird habit every time she cooks,” the friend began. “And when she explained why, we couldn’t stop laughing — because it was just so… relatable.”

The habit?
Jennifer Aniston washes her hands. Not once, not twice — sometimes up to five times while making just one dish.

But not for the reasons you’d expect.

It’s not about being a hygiene perfectionist, or following some celebrity health rule. It’s because, as Jen herself puts it, “I keep forgetting if I already did it.”

Yes, the woman who memorized years’ worth of Friends scripts down to every last punchline — the woman who can recall monologues from a 1998 episode without blinking — can’t seem to remember if she’s just washed her hands two minutes ago.

“I’ll be standing there, in the middle of chopping or stirring,” Jennifer shared once, laughing at herself, “and I’ll suddenly stop and stare at my hands like… ‘Wait. Did I already wash them? Or did I just think about washing them?’”

And just like that, back to the sink she goes.

“It’s like my brain goes on autopilot,” she explained. “Sometimes I’ll wash them again just to be sure. Other times I’ll wash them twice in a row, because halfway through drying them, I start doubting again.”

What makes this story so charming is not just the image of a megastar double-checking her clean hands in her kitchen — it’s the honesty of it. There’s no pretense, no attempt to polish the moment into a perfect anecdote. It’s just Jennifer being real.

“I’ve probably washed my hands five times making a simple pasta dish,” she added with a shrug. “It’s not because I’m obsessively clean. It’s because I can’t remember if I already did it. My brain is better at remembering lines from a script than remembering whether my hands are clean.”

The self-awareness in her voice makes you smile. She’s not trying to be funny, but somehow she always is. That’s the Jennifer Aniston people fall in love with over and over again — not the untouchable celebrity, but the human being who misplaces her phone while she’s holding it, or checks if the oven is on three times before leaving the house.

This forgetful little ritual of hers has, apparently, become a running joke among her friends. When she invites people over and starts prepping food, someone is bound to whisper, “That’s wash number two…” and count from there.

“Honestly, I should just set up a tally on the fridge,” Jen joked once. “Every time I go to the sink, someone can mark it.”

In a world where celebrity kitchens are often seen as pristine stages with private chefs and glowing marble countertops, it’s oddly comforting to know that Jennifer Aniston stands in hers, blinking at her hands in confusion, before muttering, “Oh well, one more time can’t hurt.”

And maybe that’s the real magic of Jennifer — she reminds you that no matter how famous, how polished, or how adored someone might be, they’re still human. They still forget. They still laugh at themselves. And sometimes, they wash their hands five times just to make a bowl of salad.

Because at the end of the day, even America’s sweetheart has moments when her memory taps out — and instead of getting frustrated, she turns it into a story worth sharing.