What could have been a “Boy Meets World” meet-cute turned into girl-meets-unrequited love instead.
Danielle Fishel — best known for playing the free-spirited love interest Topanga in “Boy Meets World” — was ready to crush on co-star Rider Strong, who played lead actor Cory’s best friend Shawn, early on in the show’s filming and her revealed. long kept secret in the latest episode of the “Boy Meets World” podcast Pod Meets World.
After reading a fan’s question, “Were there any off-screen romances or crushes?” – Fishel didn’t skip a beat in admitting her past feelings.
“I’ll go first: I was in love with Rider,” she replied.
Strong, seemingly equally speechless, responded to her confession with a series of hiccups before sputtering, “Whaaat?! That’s not true, you never told me!” — which prompted Fishel to double the revelation.
“You kept that for 30 years?!” Strong continued, seemingly still in disbelief.
The actress went on to explain that the crush had started “maybe later in season 1, and definitely through season 2.” The show’s first two seasons premiered in September 1993 and September 1994, respectively, and the series finale aired at the end of the seventh season in May 2000.
“He was so smart, and you know what? One of my favorite things about Rider – and it still stands to this day – Rider is very exuberant. He will tell you how he feels. He is very free with his compliments, but he doesn’t just throw them away,” Fishel (41) looked back.
“When Rider compliments you, it’s thoughtful, it has meaning — it comes from a very real place,” she said.
Fishel recalled a moment when she swooned over a heartfelt compliment from her co-star during acting classes.
“I remember getting a very genuine compliment from Rider, like, ‘Your friend is doing an incredible job,'” she recalled, implying that the kind words made her blush.
“And I found a journal that I wrote for about three months that we were on Boy Meets World,” she continued.
“And it was so embarrassing because I was going to end the diary [entries] with something like ‘PS I love…’ And then there are four more people I loved. And Rider was one of them!” she concluded, prompting a shy, slightly baffled-sounding Strong to echo, “I ever made the list?!”
The former co-stars are both happily married, with Strong marrying actress Alexandra Barreto in 2013 and Fishel who tied the knot with producer Jensen Karp in 2018. Each couple shares one child together, with Strong and Barreto welcoming son Indigo in December 2014 and Fishel giving birth to her and Karp’s son Adler in June 2019.
“Pod Meets World” debuted in June 2022 and features former “Boy Meets World” cast members Fishel, Strong and Will Friedle – who played Cory’s older brother Eric – as co-hosts. The episodes so far have featured interviews with several other cast members, interspersed with reactions from cast members as they revisit old episodes of the ABC sitcom.