Ben Savage Cut His 'Boy Meets World' Cast-Mates From His Life

By Andrew Sanford | TV | June 30, 2023 |

By Andrew Sanford | TV | June 30, 2023 |

I grew up watching Boy Meets World. Not, like, I happened to be aging as the show was airing. Yes, that was true, but it was more than that. As the characters on Boy Meets World were dating, learning about drugs and alcohol, and dressing in drag to learn what women have to go through firsthand, I was doing the same (okay, maybe not exactly the same). When Corey and Topanga, two characters I watched fall in love at the tender age of ten years old, finally got to have sex as married, legal adults, I was maybe more excited than they were. In retrospect, it was super weird.

That weirdness really hit me when rewatching the show during lockdown. Here I was, now in my thirties, watching two not-even-tweens kiss each other for the first time while an audience of (mostly adult) horned-up monsters yell, “Woooooooooo!” Several cast members from the show, namely Will Friedle, Danielle Fishel, and Rider Strong, are having a similar experience.

In 2022, the trio did what a lot of former tv-stars are doing. They started a rewatch podcast about the show that they were on. The podcast, aptly titled Pod Meets World, is less of a rewatch show and more of a first-watch affair. None of them have watched it, so they’re able to look at it with fresh eyes. As they pointed out to Variety, they’re remembering a lot about their time as child actors. Both the good and the bad.

One person not on this journey with them is cop-loving wannabe politician and fellow former cast mate, Ben Savage. As Friedle, Strong, and Fishel explained, Savage cut them out of his life quite abruptly. As Friedle said, “He disappeared — I wish I knew why, to this day. We didn’t have a fight. There’s no falling out. There was no animosity. He just woke up one day, and decided I don’t want this person in my life anymore.”

Savage gave the crew his blessing to do the podcast but made it clear he didn’t want to be a part of it. Then, he decided that he no longer wanted to be friends. It’s a bummer, but at least Friedle, Fishel, and Strong still have each other. I wasn’t aware that the podcast involved so much personal revelation for the three. I will now be listening and possibly working through my own… feelings.