More than just Friends?

It seems that Jennifer Aniston has found a new Friend. Viewers of the hit US comedy will see Aniston's character Rachel enjoy a steamy lesbian kiss in a new series of the hit US comedy.

Channel 4 chiefs will be hoping that former Home and Away star Melissa George sets audiences soaring when she embraces Rachel in the new series of Friends.

The Australian actress plays Rachel and Ross's new "hot nanny" in the comedy show. She soon becomes the object of Joey's affections and he begins to try to seduce her.

But Joey, played by Matt LeBlanc, Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Ross (David Schwimmer) are all taken aback when the blonde nanny kisses her girlfriend Tabitha in front of them.

Melissa was signed up by the makers of Friends after appearing in movies including The Limey, Mulholland Drive and Sugar And Spice. The character she plays in Friends is hired by Rachel ( Jennifer Aniston) and Ross after months of searching for the perfect nanny.

As soon as Joey sets eyes on her, he tries to get her into bed, while Ross struggles to keep them apart.

But when the nanny greets her girlfriend with a lesbian kiss, Ross thinks his troubles are over, only to hear Joey declare that this is his "ultimate fantasy".

It is not the first time lesbianism has featured in Friends. The mother of Ben, Ross's first child, left him for another woman. His ex-wife Carol now lives happily with her partner Susan.

In a 2001 episode, Aniston herself kissed guest star Winona Ryder.

NBC has not revealed if Melissa George will appear as the nanny in any more episodes of Friends, which is now set to run for a 10th series after its six stars agreed to a deal which will earn them £800,000 each per half-hour episode.

However, the actress has already been signed to play the part of Susan in the US version of the hit British comedy Coupling, which is expected to take over the coveted Thursday night prime time slot once Friends has ended.

Until 1995, when Anna Friel, playing Beth Jordache, kissed her girlfriend in a car in an episode of Brookside, the lesbian kiss was a taboo on British television. But since then, embraces between women have become more and more common. Perhaps the most hyped of all the lesbian scenes was BBC2's Tipping The Velvet late last year.