Will Friedle hasn’t “given up” on his “friend” and former “Boy Meets World” co-star Ben Savage, but continues to ghost him and the rest of the cast.
“I know I’m shouting into the air, but I’m going to keep going. I’m not giving up on my friends,” the “Batman Beyond” alum told People on Wednesday. “I hope he comes back into our lives one day. If he comes back, we’ll have a lot to talk about.”
The actor admitted that he still had the urge to “pick up the phone” and called Savage to talk.
Friedl and Savage played on-screen brothers Eric and Cory Matthews, respectively, on the ABC series for all seven seasons from 1993 to 2000.
Danielle Fishel, who played Savage’s love interest Topanga Lawrence on the coming-of-age sitcom, expressed the same sentiment, wanting to hear from their former friend.
“I love imagining him starting a new chapter in his life as a father. I know he’s having a baby girl,” Fishel said. “He’s my husband now, so I love thinking about him (in that capacity).”
“We’ve talked a lot about how excited he is to become a father someday, so I like to imagine this stage of life that he’s at right now,” she said, adding that she was “sad” that she won’t be able to participate in other “milestones” in Savage’s life.
But the “Dancing with the Stars” alum said Savage has reached a “place of immense understanding and grace” when it comes to not wanting to “look back” on his time on the show.
“Not everyone wants to talk about uncomfortable truths,” she explained. “The three of us said this is something we really wanted to do. We were nervous, but it was a journey we were happy to take on.”
Fishel, 45, and Friedl, 49, launched the rewatch podcast Pod Meets World in 2022 with former Boy Meets World co-star Rider Strong.
Savage was also initially reported to be a co-host on the show, but decided to leave the project.
“It was tough,” Friedl said of Savage’s absence from the project. “Just today, literally this morning, we were taping an episode of ‘Pod Meets World,’ and the question that came up that everyone wanted to know was that if Ben had been on the show with us, we would have been able to answer that and we would have heard a great story.”
In 2023, the three podcast hosts revealed that Savage had been ghosting them for no reason.
“He disappeared, and I still wanted to know why,” Friedl told Variety at the time. “We never fought. We never had any falling outs. There was no animosity. He woke up one day and decided, ‘I don’t want this person in my life anymore.'”
“It’s like he disappeared from our lives,” Fischel told the outlet, adding: “He ghosted us.”
Since distancing himself from the group, Savage has pivoted to a career in politics, first running for West Hollywood City Council in 2022 and then running as a Democrat in California’s 30th Congressional District in 2024. Both runs were unsuccessful.
Earlier this month, William Daniels, who played George Feeney on Boy Meets World, and his longtime wife Bonnie Bartlett, who eventually played Mrs. Feeney on the beloved teen sitcom, revealed that there had been “issues” between cast and crew members on set.
“They had some problems working together as they grew up,” Bartlett exclusively told Page Six, noting that it’s “very unusual” for child stars to “grow up” in front of the camera and then “stay in the business.”
“They’ve grown up together. They’re so smart and they all get along so well, which is very rare in a cast that includes kids,” she marveled. “They’ve done a good job of it. They’re good people. They’re all good people.”
