‘Boy Meets World’ Stars Say Ben Savage ‘Disappeared’ After 30 Years of Friendship: It’s a ‘Sore Subject’

Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle are getting candid about where they currently stand with their former Boy Meets World costar Ben Savage.

The trio — who currently host Pod Meets World together — revealed that they no longer have a friendship with the 42-year-old actor, who played Cory Matthews.

“He just kind of disappeared from our lives,” Fishel, 42, told Variety.

This shift came as a surprise for Fishel, especially, since Savage was present at the NICU in June 2019 when she delivered her son early. “We were just so, so close, especially during that time. He was checking in with me regularly,” she recalled.

But things changed after that, as Fishel alleged: “He ghosted us.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Savage’s reps for comment.

Variety noted that Fishel, Strong and Friedle haven’t heard from Savage — who recently announced a run for Congress — in three years. But Friedle, 46, has attempted to connect with his former TV brother the most of the group — to no avail — and called the situation a “sore subject.”

“He disappeared — I wish I knew why, to this day,” Friedle, 46, said. “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.”

The Kim Possible alum continued, “I finally sent a text saying, ‘I’ve known you for 30 years, what’s going on?’ I said, ‘I’m gonna call you every day until you tell me not to call you anymore.’ That lasted about three weeks or a month, every single day.”
Friedle also said the pair’s “shared history” working on the ABC series when they were young makes it that much harder for him. “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. 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 added.

Despite no longer having a relationship with Savage, Fishel still has love for her former Girl Meets World husband.

“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,” she said. “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.”

In the years since Boy Meets World wrapped in 2000 after seven seasons, the cast has been very candid about their time working on the series and their off-screen friendships. Trina McGee, who played Angela Moore, even revealed in January 2020 that she experienced “prejudice and racism” from “the ones included on the poster.” Though she didn’t identify who mistreated her, Fishel issued a public apology and they’ve since mended their relationship. It was later confirmed that Friedle and Savage were the other offenders.

And while she’s since revealed that Friedle apologized to her through a “long email” and they’re now in a better place, McGee said she hasn’t received an apology from Savage. Addressing the matter with Yahoo Entertainment in October 2020, she said, “I do not talk to Ben Savage at all.”

Boy Meets World is streaming in full on Disney+.