‘Boy Meets World’ Stars Say Ben Savage ‘Ghosted’ Them 3 Years Ago

Boy Meets World stars Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle recently spoke out about their former castmate Ben Savage, saying that he “ghosted” them three years ago. The trio hosts the Pod Meets World podcast, on which they rewatch Boy Meets World episodes and discuss the experience of filming from each of their perspectives. In a recent interview about the podcast with Variety, the three co-stars revealed that Savage, the series’ lead star, hasn’t spoken to any of them since 2019.

“He disappeared – I wish I knew why, to this day,” Friedle, 46, told the outlet. “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.’” Friedle later shared that he “finally sent a text saying, ‘I’ve known you for 30 years, what’s going on? I’m gonna call you every day until you tell me not to call you anymore.’” However, the actor gave up after “a month” of silence from Savage.

On Boy Meets World, Savage starred as Cory Matthews, a teen from the Philadelphia suburbs with a quirky approach to life. Fishel played Topanga, Cory’s girlfriend, and later wife. Friedle portrayed Cory’s elder brother Eric Matthews, and Strong played Cory’s best friend Shawn Hunter. While the three Pod Meets World co-hosts have maintained a close relationship through the years, they say that things with Savage were fine until the last few years.

“I’ve known him since he was 11 years old, and we have a shared history. And we were doing these conventions together, and we were getting to know each other as adults, and then he just kind of went, ‘I’m done with you,’” Friedle went on to say, admitting that Savage’s absence from his life is a “sore subject” to talk about. “I tried and tried and tried for months, until finally my wife was like, ‘Why are you doing this to yourself? He obviously doesn’t want you in his life.’”

“He just kind of disappeared from our lives,” Fishel added, noting that Savage was very supportive during her most recent pregnancy and birth. “We were just so, so close, especially during that time. He was checking in with me regularly,” she recalled, later adding that even though Savage “ghosted” his castmates, she hopes they can reconnect in the future.

“If there’s anything this podcast has taught me, it’s that everyone is on their own journey and having their own experiences that can be perceived many different ways, depending on your POV,” Fishel continued. “Speaking for myself, Ben and I may be estranged right now and we may have our complaints about each other, but I will always love Ben and want what’s best for him. I don’t think this is the end of our story – but time will tell.”