The two actresses bonded while starring together on the Apple TV+ series “Palm Royale.”

Allison Janney gets a text from Carol Burnett ‘every day for the last four years’ and it’s still ‘exciting’

The two actresses bonded while starring together on the Apple TV+ series “Palm Royale.”

By Kathleen Perricone

August 21, 2026 3:11 p.m. ET

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Carol Burnett and Allison Janney in 2024. Credit:

Eric Charbonneau/Getty

- Allison Janney says she gets a text from Carol Burnett “every day for the last four years.”

- The two met while costarring in *Palm Royale* and immediately bonded over their shared love of *Wordle*.

- “I say, ‘Yep. Carol Burnett texted me!’ So that’s pretty great,” gushed Janney.

Carol Burnett is one of Hollywood’s most in-demand living icons, yet she makes time to text her friend Allison Janney every day.

The *Palm Royale* actress revealed that 93-year-old Burnett has sent her a daily message for the past four years to chat about, what else, *Wordle*. The two bonded over *The New York Times* word game, and it remains a regular element of their friendship.

“I play *Wordle* with her every day, so I get a text from Carol Burnett every day of my life for the last four years,” Janney told CNN’s *Coming Up* podcast. “It’s pretty exciting. Every time it doesn’t get old, I say, ‘Yep. Carol Burnett texted me!’ So that’s pretty great.”

Allison Janney and Carol Burnett in a ‘Palm Royale’ scene in 2026.

Burnett, who studied English at UCLA, certainly gives Janney a daily run for her money. She revealed during a 2024 appearance on *Live With Kelly and Mark *that she’s successfully solved the *Wordle* puzzle in one try seven times. In another interview with Conan O’Brien, Burnett said she and Janney also play the *NYT*’s daily puzzle, *Connections*.

For Janney, the opportunity to work with Burnett, whom she calls “my idol,” was a full-circle moment.

“Carol Burnett is probably the reason why I wanted to be an [actress], aside from my mother being an actress,” the *Mom* star told CNN. “Watching Carol Burnett, I dreamed of having my own *Carol Burnett Show*. She was very much why I wanted to be an actress.”

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“Getting to work with her and getting to know her,” Janney continued, “I’m like, she’s my friend, which is just enormous. It’s so exciting for me. I pinch myself.”

She recalled the first time she met Burnett, at a table reading for *Palm Royale*, and attempting to play it cool as they sat side by side.

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“I just remember trying to strike up conversations with her,” Janney recalled to *eTalk*. “And she probably was like, ‘What is this?’ I was like, ‘So do you like the water here? It’s good, right? Just making stupid conversation, but finally getting to hang with her.”

Allison Janney (far right) at Carol Burnett’s hand and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

Monica Schipper/Getty

Janney was on hand to support her dear friend when the Hollywood legend put her hands and feet in cement at the TCL Chinese Theatre in April 2024, coinciding with the NBC special *Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love*.

The Academy Award winner appeared onstage with her *Palm Royale* costars Kristen Wiig and Laura Dern and delivered one of the night’s most memorable lines to Burnett: “I’m not really familiar with your work, but you must be very good for this many stars to be kissing your ass tonight.”

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