Fishel, Friedle, and Rider Strong launched the rewatch podcast “Pod Meets World” in 2022, which they say Savage declined to join.

Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle open up about rift with *Boy Meets World *costar Ben Savage: ‘Shouting into a void’

Fishel, Friedle, and Rider Strong launched the rewatch podcast "Pod Meets World" in 2022, which they say Savage declined to join.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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June 3, 2026 5:31 p.m. ET

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Will Friedle, Ben Savage, and Danielle Fishel for 'Boy Meets World'. Credit:

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

- Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle are opening up about their falling out with *Boy Meets World *costar Ben Savage.

- Fishel and Friedle told PEOPLE that Savage declined their invite to cohost their rewatch podcast *Pod Meets World *in 2022, and after that, communication slowed to a complete halt.

- Friedle likened reaching out to Savage as "shouting into the void," while Fishel believes "our story of our friendship will continue."

The *Boy Meets World *family is fractured, for now. But some stars of the beloved teen sitcom believe that healing is possible.

Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle, who along with their old castmate Rider Strong started up the rewatch podcast *Pod Meets World *in 2022, told PEOPLE that they initially extended an invite to series star Ben Savage. Though the cast had already opened up about a falling out at the time, they still welcomed him on, but Savage declined. Since then, they claimed that communication with Savage has slowed to a complete halt.

"There's so many times I want to pick up the phone and still do. I know I'm shouting into the void, but I'm going to keep doing it," Friedle said. "I haven't given up on my friend. And I'm hoping that he comes back into our lives at some point, and when he does, we're going to have a lot to talk about."

Fishel concurred: "I think when the time is right, our story of our friendship will continue, and if not, then I'm wrong."

Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, and Will Friedle in 2022.

Jon Kopaloff/Getty

Friedle, Fishel, Strong, and Savage formed the core young cast on the sitcom, which was a hit on ABC from 1993 to 2000. New cast came and went, like Matthew Lawrence, Lee Norris, Trina McGee, and Maitland Ward, but the core four remained throughout the series' run.

Despite most of the beloved alums of the sitcom stopping by to discuss their time on the show with the *Pod Meets World *cohosts, Savage has not yet made an appearance.

"It's been hard. I mean, just today, literally we were recording an episode this morning of *Pod Meets World* and there came a question that we all wanted to know, that we know if Ben had been on with us, it would have been answered like that and we would have heard a great story," Friedle shared.

'Boy Meets World' star Ben Savage and wife Tessa Angermeier welcome first child

'Boy Meets World' star Rider Strong confesses 'shame and fear' of aging: 'I'm letting the world down'

After *Boy Meets World*, Savage took a three-year break from Hollywood, but returned for appearances on series like *Bones *and *Without a Trace*, and in films like *Palo Alto*. He eventually reunited with Fishel on the spinoff series *Girl Meets World*, which followed the family begun by his Cory Matthews and her Topanga Lawrence.

Recently, Savage launched a bid for Congress and had a daughter with wife Tessa Angermeier. "I love imagining him in this new chapter of his life as a dad," Fishel shared. "I know he has had a baby girl. He's now a husband. So I love just thinking about him [in that capacity]."

Still, the *Dancing With the Stars *alum said it "makes me sad sometimes when I think about the fact that I would love to just know, like, 'How's it going? What's happening now? What are the milestones that are being checked off?'"

Tessa Angermeier and Ben Savage in 2023.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Ultimately, Fishel said she approaches the falling out "from a place of immense understanding and grace when it comes to the fact that not everybody wants to look back over their past with a fine-tooth comb. Not everybody wants to talk about uncomfortable truths... The three of us said it was something that we did want to do. And although we were nervous, it was a journey we were willing and excited to go down."

If Savage doesn't want to participate, that's all right with her. "I would never try to shove that perspective down somebody's throat and make them do it, and it wasn't for him," Fishel said. "So I understand that. I'm not upset about that."

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