Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle say their pain remains after Ben Savage abruptly ghosted them from their Boy Meets World world—though Will insists he hasn’t given up on reconciliation and Danielle hopes their friendship can continue.
For Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle, the awkward silence still hasn’t faded.
Their long-running friendship with their Boy Meets World co-star Ben Savage ended abruptly. with Ben “disappeared” from their lives after the trio launched Pod Meets World in 2022 and immediately shut down the idea of him joining the show. Rider Strong was part of the plan too. but the show’s door never reopened—at least not in any way that Ben was willing to act on. Danielle and Will describe it as a sudden stop: Ben allegedly stopped answering calls and texts. stopped attending conventions with them. and simply went quiet.
Will has said there was “no animosity” and they “didn’t have a fight,” which is part of why the ghosting has continued to sting. In a joint interview with People on Wednesday, he described how difficult it still feels—especially when they’re back in the middle of their shared work.
“We were recording an episode this morning of Pod Meets World and there came a question that we all wanted to know,” Will said, recalling the moment during recording. “If Ben had been on with us, it would have been answered like that and we would have heard a great story.”
Even with that wound intact, Will doesn’t close the door. He said there are still times he wants to reach out—knowing full well it may go nowhere.
“There’s so many times I want to pick up the phone and still do. I know I’m shouting into the void, but I’m going to keep doing it,” he said. “I haven’t given up on my friend. And I’m hoping that he comes back into our lives at some point, and when he does, we’re going to have a lot to talk about.”
Danielle feels the absence in a different way—tied to Ben’s new chapter as a father. On Girl Meets World and in real life, she played out a kind of closeness that made his sudden distance feel especially sharp now.
Danielle said she still loves imagining him in the life he’s stepped into. “I love imagining him in this new chapter of his life as a dad,” she said. “I know he has had a baby girl. He’s now a husband. So I love just thinking about him [in that capacity].”
She pointed to what the friendship used to hold: conversations about the future and the anticipation of fatherhood. But with Ben no longer part of their day-to-day lives, Danielle says she can’t get the updates she wants.
“We talked a lot about how he looked forward to being a dad someday,” she said. “So I like imagining this phase of life that he’s in now. And it makes me sad sometimes when I think about the fact that I would love to just know. like. ‘How’s it going?. What’s happening now?. What are the milestones that are being checked off?’”.
Danielle also made clear that she doesn’t want the past to be dragged like a courtroom record. She said she comes “from a place of immense understanding and grace when it comes to the fact that not everybody wants to look back over their past with a fine-tooth comb. ” and that “not everybody wants to talk about uncomfortable truths.”.
“The three of us said it was something that we did want to do. ” she added. referring to what she and the other Boy Meets World friends were willing to revisit. “And although we were nervous, it was a journey we were willing and excited to go down. I would never try to shove that perspective down somebody’s throat and make them do it. and it wasn’t for him. And so I understand that. I’m not upset about that.”.
Still, there’s one part she can’t get past: the way his silence seems to have taken away a normal, human kind of connection.
She said she remains hopeful their friendship can continue, and she offered a line that lands with both optimism and uncertainty: “I think when the time is right, our story of our friendship will continue, and if not, then I’m wrong.”
The question now is whether Ben Savage wants to come back into their lives—and whether he’s ready for the conversations that both Danielle and Will say they’ve been waiting for since the disappearance.
Boy Meets World Danielle Fishel Will Friedle Ben Savage Pod Meets World Rider Strong ghosting reconciliation Girl Meets World Tessa Angermeier fatherhood