Boy Meets World alum Will Friedle is opening up about the “crush” he once had on former costar Danielle Fishel.
“I told you, years later, I had a crush on you, Danielle,” Friedle, 49, told Fishel, 45, during the Thursday, June 4, episode of their “Pod Meets World” podcast with fellow Boy Meets World alum Rider Strong. “Years later, I almost asked you out.”
Fishel recalled that she “never knew” about Friedle’s crush before he confessed it to her.
“This was like … 2005, [2006], something like that. It wasn’t long after Boy, and we were all hanging out again a little bit,” Friedle clarified of his feelings for Fishel.
Boy Meets World concluded its seven-season run in 2000. Friedle played Eric Matthews, the older brother of Cory Matthews (Ben Savage), while Fishel played Cory’s classmate and eventual wife, Topanga Lawrence. Strong, 46, played Cory’s best friend, Shawn Hunter.
“I remember there was one time where we were hanging out, and … I was single and Danielle was single. I was like, ‘Oh, that might be interesting to entertain,’” the Kim Possible alum continued, noting that he never actually pursued a relationship with Fishel.
“There would have been a weirdness to it,” Friedle admitted.
Strong candidly told his cohosts that Friedle’s fizzled-out crush was for the best.
“Thank God [a relationship] didn’t happen,” he said. “I mean, unless you guys had gotten married and had children, it [would have been] wonderful. But, like, chances are, [it] would have dissolved, and then we wouldn’t be able to have this [podcast].”
Friedle agreed, saying, “It would have been a whole different podcast, I’m sure, at that point. And she wouldn’t have met [her husband Jensen Harp], and I wouldn’t have met [his wife Susan Martens]. And, yeah, we wouldn’t have been happy.”
Crushes among the cast members have become a frequent topic of discussion on the podcast, as Fishel has been open about the crush she had on Strong during the filming of Boy Meets World. In 2023, the Dancing With the Stars alum read an entry from her teenage diary in which she admitted to feeling jealous of Strong’s girlfriend at the time, Rachael Leigh Cook.
“Rider and Rachael got all lovey-dovey, and it made me want to puke. Then they kissed, and it looked so cute. She’s actually really sweet and cool, but I really like Rider. I don’t think she’s right for him. Then again, maybe I’m not either,” she wrote as a teen.
The Boy Meets World cast has spoken out about their years-long rift with former costar Ben Savage. The actor played Cory Matthews on the beloved ABC sitcom, which ran from 1993 to 2000. Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle have discussed being estranged from Savage for years, stemming from the creation of their “Pod […]
Strong never reciprocated Fishel’s feelings.
“I do think Danielle and I spent a lot of time together around that period when I was with Rachel. But I don’t think I entertained the possibility because I was in a relationship,” he said on Thursday, admitting that by the time he was single, Fishel’s crush had faded and they were “not getting along actively.”
“We had grown apart,” Strong added, noting that they later became close friends again.
The podcast trio’s chat about crushes comes one day after Friedle and Fishel opened up about their falling out with Savage, 45, sharing their desire to reconcile with the Girl Meets World star.
“I know I’m shouting into the void, but I’m going to keep doing it. I haven’t given up on my friend,” Friedle told People on Wednesday, June 3. “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.”
