Courteney Cox's life ''changed forever'' when she met Johnny McDaid seven years ago.

The 'Friends' star has paid a gushing tribute to the Snow Patrol star to mark the anniversary of their first date.

Alongside a video montage of selfies of the pair, Courteney wrote on Instagram: ''7 years ago today I had my first date with this incredible man... and my life was changed forever. I love you J.''

The 56-year-old actress and the 44-year-old songwriter have been separated amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Courteney isolating in Los Angeles and Johnny in London.

So they've been keeping in contact via video conferencing app Zoom.

In July, Courteney marked Johnny's birthday with a cute ''Zoom lunch / dinner date'' online.

She wrote on Instagram: ''It's been 133 days since we were last together. Covid sucks. Happy Birthday J ... I loved our lunch/dinner (LA/London time) zoom date today. I miss you madly. #myone (sic)''

Courteney previously revealed her and Johnny are ''better than before'' after their brief split in 2015.

She said: ''We broke off our engagement and he moved to England, then we got back together, and it's actually better than before. Yes it is far, but I love London ... I don't like the flight home, it's long, you can't sleep, I hate it, but we just make it work. He has been spending time here and then I go there and we try not to spend more than two or three weeks apart. We are not married but it is not an elephant in the room for us, we're OK. Either way, whatever happens we are just focusing on the goodness of where we are.''

Meanwhile, the 'Scream' star - who has 16-year-old daughter Coco from her previous marriage to David Arquette - previously admitted she isn't keen on calling Johnny her ''partner'', because it can sometimes cause confusion for other people.

She said: ''He's my guy, he's my one. He's my partner, that's what he calls it, 'my partner'. I'm from Alabama, so you don't really say partner unless you're in the same sex ... Saying partner is difficult for me!

''I was in Atlanta not that long ago and I was like, 'Oh, I'm supposed to meet my partner in section F,' and they were like, 'Oh, I'm sure she's going to be there, don't worry about it.' Not that it matters, but it's just a different way to speak.''