Matthew Steven LeBlanc was born on 25 July 1967 in Newton, Massachusetts, USA. His father, Paul LeBlanc, was a mechanic of French-Canadian descent; his mother, Patricia (née Di Cillo), was an office manager of Italian descent. His parents divorced when he was eight. He also has a half-brother named Justin.

Growing up, Matt developed an early passion for motorcycles and competed in junior motorcycle racing. He attended Newton North High School — where classmates included future comedian Louis C.K. — graduating in 1985. He briefly attended the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston to study building construction management with the aim of becoming a carpenter, but dropped out in his freshman year to pursue acting.

LeBlanc moved to New York, enrolled in drama classes, and began modelling — his first commercial was a 1987 Heinz Tomato Ketchup advertisement. He transitioned to acting with small TV roles in the late 1980s. His career-defining moment came in 1994 when he was cast as Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom Friends alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer. The show ran for 10 seasons and made LeBlanc a global star.

LeBlanc reinvented himself in 2011 with Episodes (BBC Two/Showtime, 2011–2017), playing a fictionalised version of himself — winning a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a TV Comedy in 2012. He appeared as a Top Gear guest in 2012, setting the all-time fastest celebrity lap (1:42.1) in a Kia Cee’d. He joined Top Gear as a full co-presenter for Series 23–26 (2016–2019), becoming the first non-British host in the show’s history. Simultaneously he starred in Man with a Plan (CBS, 2016–2020). He announced his departure from Top Gear in January 2019, citing a desire to spend more time with family and friends in the US.

LeBlanc currently lives quietly in Pacific Palisades, California and on his 1,000-acre Santa Ynez ranch. He returned to the public eye in 2021 for Friends: The Reunion on HBO Max. As of 2025, he remains largely retired from acting, spending time with his daughter Marina (b. 2004, now 21), working on his car collection, and developing a travel documentary about classic cars. He has not posted on social media since 2023.