The Biggest Bombshells from the “Boy Meets World” Rewatch Podcast

From William Daniels almost walking away from his role as Mr. Feeny to on-set crushes, here are some of the biggest confessions from the cast

From 1993 to 2000, Boy Meets World aired as part of ABC's TGIF lineup and fans watched Cory and Eric Matthews, Topanga Lawrence, Shawn Hunter and the rest of their classmates come of age on TV screens each week.

Now, 30 years after the show first aired, three of its stars — Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle, who played Topanga, Shawn and Eric, respectively — are looking back at their time on the beloved series through their podcast, Pod Meets World.

The trio has been joined by some of their former costars as they rewatch the show, revealing some gems about their time on the series along the way. From William Daniels almost walking away from his role as Mr. Feeny to secrets of on-set crushes, here's a look at some of the biggest the cast mates have revealed on the podcast.

A Guest Star Was Arrested on Charges of a Lewd Act Against a Child

In a heavier episode of the podcast in February of 2024, the trio spoke about guest star Brian Peck, who became a friend to Strong and Friedle but ultimately served 16 months in prison after being arrested on charges of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under 16 in 2003.

"We knew this deserved a more detailed discussion, especially even since we as hosts are still unpacking everything involved," Fishel said. "We know that discourse around the subject has culturally ramped up with Will and Rider even being contacted recently for a statement. So we decided to talk about it here on our podcast, where we can dig much deeper than one sentence."

Of Peck, Fishel noted that the actor — who appeared in two episodes as a cowboy and a character named Ookiee — "would eventually become a mainstay on set, not just working on the show and appearing on it with many small roles until it concluded in 2001, but integrating himself into Will and Rider's personal life, becoming part of their most trusted inner circle, despite being more than 15 years older than both of them, and crossing many workplace boundaries." She then mentioned Peck's August 2003 arrest "came as a shock to us at the time."

"This guy had so ingratiated himself in my life ... The person he presented was this great, funny guy who was really good at his job, and you wanted to hang out with. I saw him every day, hung out with him every day, talked to him every day," Friedle said, while Strong indicated he would also hang out with Peck "all the time" as well despite the pair's 20-year age gap.

Friedle then recalled how Peck immediately presented his arrest "where it wasn't his fault" and "it was clearly the fault of his victim," noting that he "turned us against the victim ... And I look back at that now as an adult, and it makes me want to cry that I ever was that naive."

Danielle Fishel Was Nearly Fired on the First Day of Fiming

It's hard to think of Boy Meets World without Fishel's performance as Topanga, but according to the actress, her time on the show was almost short-lived.

While she was initially cast to play a smaller role on the show, the then-12-year-old ended up replacing the actor originally cast as Topanga. But, the preteen's habit of speaking quickly proved to be an issue for Jacobs, who according to Fishel, threatened to fire her.

On an episode of the podcast, she remembered a time when show creator and producer Michael Jacobs told the entire group that Fishel's notes were going to be especially long so she would need to wait until the end to receive them.

"What I know specifically was said is, 'All I know is, if you don't come back tomorrow doing this entirely differently, you are also not going to be here,' referencing the girl I had replaced," Fishel recalled.

As a result, she and her mom stayed up "going over every single line," and after going through rehearsal the next day, Jacobs commended her hard work.

"Let's give Danielle a round of applause, you did exactly what I asked of you," she remembered him saying. "Thank you, thank you. Congratulations, it was wonderful."

Rider Strong Was 'Upset' with How the Show Discussed Sex in One Episode

On an episode of the podcast released in late 2022, Strong shared his feelings about how the show went about depicting sex.

During the segment, Strong and his cohosts were answering questions from listeners about episodes that were allegedly banned from airing on the Disney Channel. Per IMDb, one of those episodes was "Prom-ises, Prom-ises" during season 5, in which Topanga is considering having sex with Cory after her senior prom.

"I remember being very upset during that entire week," Strong recalled of shooting the episode. "I was very upset with the adults on our set — the way that they were approaching this, specifically because we were not discussing safe sex."

He further explained, "The fact that we would not bring up Cory and Topanga using condoms or having a discussion about birth control at all, and yet the entire episode was about whether 'will they' or 'will they not' ... I just remember being so upset, and I brought it up. I remember talking to Michael [Jacobs] about it, saying, 'Can we talk about this?' "

Strong said that Jacobs did not appear to listen to his concerns: "We were growing up in the era of AIDS, this is something that we have to talk about. When you are discussing losing your virginity, you discuss how you're going to do it and how to be safe about it, and he completely blew me off."

Strong remembered feeling like "that was incredibly irresponsible."

Adam Scott Felt Snubbed by Rider Strong

As part of the rewatch podcast, the hosts sometimes welcome back old costars. During one episode, they sat down with Adam Scott, who played a recurring character on the show named Griff Hawkins.

During the chat, the Severance actor told the trio that Strong had snubbed him nearly three decades earlier when they were wrapping season 2.

Scott said he remembered going to give Strong a hug and high five, to which Strong allegedly pushed him away and looked at him as if to say: "'Wait a second — who the f--- are you?'" Then, he said, Strong ran away.

"Literally, this has been tugging on me for 29 years," Scott admitted.

Strong, on the other hand, said he had "no recollection" of the incident.

"Are you serious? Why would I do that?" he asked, sharing that he's "generally a hugger!"

"He was a little kid, and I was this stranger grown up," Scott said, referencing the dynamic with Strong at the time. "Again, I had no idea what I was supposed [to do]. It seemed like we were all supposed to be joyous and hug each other. Oh god, it was horrifying."

Despite not remembering the incident, Strong apologized, saying, "Like I said, that totally doesn't sound like me at all. I'm so sorry."

Danielle Fishel Had a Secret Crush on Rider Strong

After nearly 30 years of keeping it to herself, Fishel revealed in a 2022 episode that she had a crush on Strong back in the day.

After a fan asked the cohosts about any on-set crushes, Fishel volunteered to share hers first.

"That's not true," Strong said, who seemed surprised by the confession. "You've never told me that."

"It is too true," she responded.

After trying to remember when exactly the crush started, she shared some of the qualities that made Strong so appealing. "You know one of my favorite things about Rider, and it still stands to this day, Rider is very effusive," she said.

"He will tell you how he feels and he's very free with his compliments, but he doesn't throw them out willy-nilly. When Rider compliments you it is thoughtful, it has meaning, and you can tell ... it's coming from a very real place."

William Daniels Initially Declined the Role of Mr. Feeny

William Daniels, who played the beloved Mr. Feeny on the show for all seven seasons, said he initially turned down the role.

While appearing on an episode of the podcast with his former costars and longtime pals, Daniels said Jacobs asked for a meeting to understand why the esteemed actor had declined the job.

"I said, 'Well, that's a funny name and I don't wanna make fun of teachers. I respect them and they're unpaid and all that,' " Daniels remembered.

He said that after receiving a bit of context about the name, he felt better about it all.

"Then he told me what my role was based on, which was a mentor of his when he was in high school," Daniels said, adding, "I realized the plot would be written with respect."

The roadblocks didn't stop there, Strong remembered, adding that Daniels threatened to quit after their first table read. Jacobs rewrote the script until the actor was satisfied with how his character was portrayed.

Danielle Fishel Was Sexualized By an Older Male Executive

In a summer 2023 episode, Fishel opened up about her experiences being sexualized as a teenager while appearing on the series.

“I had people tell me they had my 18th birthday on their calendar,” she told her co-hosts. “I had a male executive — I did a calendar [shoot] at 16 — and he specifically told me he had a certain calendar month in his bedroom.”

She said that at the time, her “immediate thought after that was: ‘Yes, because we are peers, and this is how you relate to peers.’”

"As a kid, I always wanted to be older. I always wanted to be an adult. I wanted to be seen as an adult,” she admitted. “So getting adult male attention as a teenage girl felt like — I didn’t think of it as being creepy or weird."

She explained, “I felt like it was validation that I was mature and I was an adult and I was capable and that they were seeing me the way I was, not for the number on a page. And in hindsight, that is absolutely wrong.”

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