The cast of ‘Boy Meets World’ hasn’t spoken to Ben Savage in three years

Boy meets world alumni Danielle Fishel, Rider strong And Will Friedel are closer than ever — but they can’t say the same about their relationship with the former costar Ben Savage.

“He disappeared – I wish I knew why, to this day,” said 46-year-old Friedle Variety in an interview published on Wednesday, June 28. “We didn’t argue. There’s no fighting. There was no animosity. He woke up one day and decided, ‘I don’t want this person in my life anymore.’”

Friedle – who played Eric Matthews, the older brother of Savage’s Cory Matthews, on the beloved sitcom – said he “finally texted you that said, ‘I’ve known you for 30 years, what’s going on? call bye until you tell me not to call you again.’” However, Friedle gave up after “a month” of not hearing anything.

“I’ve known him since he was 11 years old, and we have a shared history. And we did these conventions together, and we got to know each other as adults, and then he just said, ‘I’m done with you,'” he added, pointing out that their estrangement is a “painful subject.” to discuss. “I tried and tried and tried for months, until finally my wife said, ‘Why are you doing this to yourself? He clearly doesn’t want you in his life.'”

Savage, Friedle, Strong, 43, and Fishel, 42, all starred in the ABC hit from 1993 to 2000 and became instant global teen icons. The popular Friday night staple ran for seven seasons and followed Cory and his friends from high school through their college years. While Friedle was Cory’s wacky older brother, Strong and Fishel played Cory’s childhood best friend and old girlfriend, respectively. The sitcom revival series, Girl meets worldpremiered on Disney in 2014 – with all four main characters appearing throughout the show’s three seasons.

For years, the group held fan conventions together – until Savage quit without any notice. “He just disappeared from our lives,” Fishel said Variety on Wednesday, adding that Savage was there for her when her first son was born early and in the NICU in June 2019. (Fishel shares two sons, Adler, 4, and Keaton, 2, with husband Jensen Karp.)

“We were just so, so close, especially at the time. He checked in with me regularly,” she recalled. While Fishel claimed that Savage “ghosted” us after that, she revealed that she remains hopeful that they will all reconnect in the future.

“If there’s one thing this podcast has taught me, it’s that everyone is on their own journey and has their own experiences that can be perceived in many different ways depending on your POV,” she explained. “Speaking for myself, Ben and I may be estranged at this point and we may have our complaints about each other, but I will always love Ben and have his best interests at heart. I don’t think this is the end of our story, but time will tell.”

When it comes to their podcast, “Pod Meets World” – a rewatch show where the actors watch the sitcom for the first time and recap the series from their own perspective – Savage has rejected the idea from the very beginning.

“He was convinced it wasn’t for him,” Fishel said. “He was also very clear: ‘I don’t want it to hold you back. If you want to do it, go ahead.’ The time between those conversations and when we actually started the podcast was a significant amount of time.

A walk down memory lane may not have been the right decision for Savage, but Fishel, Strong, and Friedle have achieved great success with the podcast, including seeing over 17 million downloads and selling popular merchandise. The trio have also done two live shows and had a slew of BMW guest stars including Betty Randle, Trina McGee, Matthew Lawrence, Adam Scott and Mr. Feeny himself William Daniels.