Maitland Ward’s Real Status With the Boy Meets World Cast After Reunion Fallout

Boy Meets World alums still aren’t on the same page. Maitland Ward says she hasn’t spoken to Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, or Rider Strong since that rocky appearance she made on their Pod Meets World podcast, and the whole thing sounds awkward more than explosive.

Where things stand right now

In a Monday, May 18 interview with Fox News Digital, Ward, 49, said she and the podcast trio have had zero follow-up since the episode.

"We have not spoken at all... There’s been no contact."

Ward noted she did reach out to Fishel to offer support when Fishel competed on Dancing With the Stars season 34. She emphasized there’s no big blowup behind the scenes — just radio silence.

"There’s been no ill will either. There’s been no fighting or anything," she said, adding that they’re simply not connected right now — and yes, she finds that sad.

How it got messy

Last year, Ward guested on Pod Meets World to talk about her time on the series. It started cordial and then swerved into a tense back-and-forth. The short version: different memories, bruised feelings, and a very public attempt to clean it up that didn’t really stick.

• On the podcast, Fishel asked Ward point-blank if she hated them. Ward said no — but said she felt Fishel wouldn’t speak to her when Ward visited the Girl Meets World set. (Fishel both reprised Topanga and served as a co-producer on that spinoff. ) Fishel pushed back, saying she did talk to her.
• Ward said Fishel unfriended her on Facebook. Fishel denied that, said she barely used Facebook, and only later found an old message from Ward. After seeing it, Fishel said she asked Will Friedle to get Ward’s number so she could apologize.
• According to Fishel, Ward replied through Will that they should save the conversation for the podcast because it would be great for ratings. Ward denied that, saying she thought their talk would happen right away, not as a stunt.
• Ward admitted there was some weirdness she couldn’t pinpoint — and worried Fishel might have thought she was trying to draw attention to herself. Fishel apologized if it seemed personal and said it wasn’t.
• Then came the subtext: Ward said Fishel didn’t like that Ward was getting a lot of attention after Ward moved into adult entertainment. Fishel countered by pointing out she herself was on the cover of Maxim in 2014.
• After the episode made headlines, Ward told TooFab in February 2025 that she was surprised by how the conversation played: she’d considered Fishel a friend, now feels Fishel didn’t like her and held onto that for years — and that it’s sad all around.
• Since that podcast taping, Fishel hasn’t publicly addressed Ward’s later remarks.

The read

This isn’t a feud with scorched-earth quotes — it’s more like two very different versions of the same history, plus a podcast reunion that turned into an uncomfortable airing of old signals and missed messages. Ward says she tried to be supportive during DWTS and insists there’s no bad blood. Still, no one’s texting.